The sun reflected onto to the Doane Tigers as they continued to train, even as the sun sets on the spring season.
Senior Virgil Mitchell straightened up from the track fence when he was told that he was the Great Plains Athletic Conference track athlete of the year.
“That’s awesome,” Mitchell said. “Sweet.”
Doane won the GPAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship for the second year in a row last weekend, in Yankton, SD.
Mitchell was an anchor for the men’s 4 x 400 relay and won the 110 and 400 relays.
The men had three athletes in the top individual scorers: Mitchell (22.5 points), junior Jared Schuurmans (20 points) and senior Kedrick Kelley (17.5 points).
Points from Schuurmans included his resetting his discus record at 183-09 ft.
The men scored 207.5 points, ahead of Concordia by 53.5 points.
“If you don’t have a goal in life, you don’t have a purpose,” Kelley said. “(This meet) was a great way to end my college career.”
The women won with 167 points, ahead of Concordia by 12 points.
Junior DeeJay Silcott and senior Abby Schlueter were the top individual scorers from Doane.
The women needed points and were down to two events when junior Viviana Arreola ran the 5k.
“The best feeling was when Viviana running,” Mitchell said. “I cheered the entire time, it was great.”
Arreola entered the track trailing by one point to secure the win.
“I didn’t know how my legs would do,” Arreola said. “It was a challenge.”
Arreola finished third, and secured the teams finish.
There is a lot of team spirit and every person and every point matters, Arreola said.
The Tigers points fluctuated throughout the day and some seniors worried about the results.
“We were down in points and out of no where everyone got up and started cheering, out of nowhere we had 30 points,” Mitchell said.
As Mitchell and Kelley returned to the track, Kelley turned back.
“Going out with a championship title made me feel great, I’ll hold on to it for eternity.”
Be the first to comment on this article!