Goshen College News

Two School Records, One All American For GC Track and Field

GENEVA, Ohio – History was made by all three of Goshen College’s participants in the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championship participants at the GaREAT Sports Complex in Ohio on Friday.

Despite Erin Helmuth, Jake GunderKline, and Matthew Webster being the only Maple Leafs in action, the program still was able to boast an All American and a pair of new school records.

Helmuth (Elkhart, Ind.) was the first to hear the starting gun as she competed in the 3k-race walk. In her first season competing in the event, Helmuth entered the 13-member field seeded ninth.

The sophomore shaved more than a minute of her seed time (17:04.63), walking to a personal best mark of 15:51.70. She finished sixth overall, making it the fifth-consecutive year that the Maple Leafs have had a female earn All American honors in the indoor race walk.

“Erin was walking steady between sixth and ninth all race long,” said first-year head coach Doug Yoder. “In the final two laps, she really pushed it and took control of that last All American spot. She finished about 20 meters out in front.”

The men’s race walk immediately followed the women’s as GunderKline (Yellow Springs, Ohio) took to the track. Also a sophomore, GunderKline was competing in his third national championships – two indoor and one outdoor. He had already earned a pair of top ten finishes in race walking events, including an eighth place finish at last year’s indoor championships.

Also seeded ninth heading into Friday’s event, GunderKline was part of an extremely fast field. The top four in this year’s finals all bested last year’s championship time in a very competitive race.

GunderKline trimmed 24 seconds off his own Goshen College record in the 3k event to finish eighth for the second-straight year. His mark of 14:07.58 was just 17 seconds off the All American pace.

The Maple Leafs’ final competitor came in the field events as junior Matthew Webster (Indianapolis, Ind.) competed in the weight throw. Seeded 25th in the field, Webster needed big-time throws to move up in the standings.

He did just that on his third and final attempt. Going into his final throw Webster was sitting in 20th place. That was before he launched the 35-pound weight 56-feet, 3 3/4-inches, jumping seven spots in the standings for 13th overall.

The throw was less than two feet short of reaching the finals and set a new school record. After already having his name atop the Goshen College record books in the indoor shot put, discus, and hammer throw, Webster added a fourth career best on Friday. He topped Tolu Kayode’s 2006 throw (56′1″) by less than three inches