YANKTON, S.D. - The No. 9 Thresher men's indoor track & field team hit the road for the NAIA Championships last week with their hearts set on bringing some hardware back to North Newton. Expectations became reality as after the national meet concluded, Bethel saw four of their individualists claim five NAIA All-American spots and finish T-22nd out of the 63 points-earning teams.
Their day started on Friday morning as the 4x800 meter relay team competed in the preliminary heats. The combination of Laytham Magana, Isaiah Bartel, Nick Morgan, and Mauro Arancibia Campos was unfortunately disqualified due to a couple of their steps hugging the lines a little too tight, but the Threshers didn't let this affect the rest of their meet.
Starting this off was Braylen Brewer, who was able to turn in a 49.08 in the 400-meter prelims, and gain a spot in the final group of eight. In fact, all five of Bethel's individual performances found their way into their respective final rounds. Along with Brewer, this included Kemroy Cupid in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes, Isaiah Bartel in the 1,000-meter run, and Austin Cheatham in the shot put.
Cheatham was able to start Bethel's day on Saturday with an eighth-place performance in the shot put finals with a best throw of 16.56 meters. This was good for the final All-American spot among the shot put throwers, and the first for Cheatham's career.
Up next was Brewer, back for the 400-meter finals heats. Brewer was able to run away with his heat at a time of 49.17, which wound up placing him at fourth in the meet. This would also be Brewer's first career All-American nod.
Kemroy Cupid was up next in the 60-meter dash and sprinted down the track for a time of 6.89 seconds. This time was good for fifth in the finals heat and his first of two All-American performances at the meet.
Splitting up Cupid's two performances was Isaiah Bartel, running the 1,000-meter run. The freshman was able to narrowly clinch a spot in the finals heat by a difference of 0.03 milliseconds from the ninth-place finisher. Bartel was able to turn this into an eighth-place 2:36.92 time in finals. This was the freshman's first All-American nod of his young career and the first in the indoor program history for Bethel by a freshman.
Cupid ended Bethel's day in the 200-meter dash, turning in a flat 22.00 time for a seventh-place finish and his second All-American performance of the day. He became the first multi-All-American for the Threshers at the same meet in their indoor program history.
Bethel was able to collect 13 points as a team at the meet, good for 22nd among the 63 points-earning teams. This put them in a tie with conference-competitor Friends University.
The Threshers look to take this momentum into the spring outdoor season, beginning on March 20 at the Bethel Invite in Thresher Stadium.
