Trojans Post Four Qualifying Marks at Midwest Classic

MARION, Ind. – Taylor continued its indoor season on Saturday at the Indiana Wesleyan Midwest Classic, scoring national-qualifying performances in four events.

The team of Noel VanderWall, Addie Draper, Emersyn Funk and Abby Mays automatically qualified for NAIA Nationals in the 4x800-meter relay with a second-place and NAIA A-standard time of 9:28.85.

VanderWall also provisionally qualified for Nationals in the 3,000-meters and won the race with a time of 10:04.50. With the qualifying marks in the 4x800 and 3,000 on Saturday, VanderWall has now qualified for Nationals in four different events this season.

Abby Mays also continued her strong indoor season with a win and a B-standard in the 1,000-meters with a time of 2:59.39 for her third win and third qualifying mark of the year.

TU's final qualifying mark of the day came in the 5,000-meters, with Sam Patterson provisionally qualifying for nationals with a third-place time of 17:56.14.

Other top performances came from Kiana Seifert with runner-up showings in the 60-meter hurdles and long jump, and Rebekah Firestone with fourth-place showings in the 3,000-meters and mile.

Taylor also showed well in the 800-meters, with Funk and Draper adding to their 4x800-relay performances by taking third and fourth with times of 2:24.44 and 2:25.87.

The Trojans will return to action on February 14 and 15, when they host the Crossroads League Championships.