LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – Friday proved to be a great day for outdoor sports, and it was an especially good day for the Bluejay Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field distance squad. The Bluejays traveled to Leavenworth to compete at the Saint Mary Distance Carnival and Team Challenge.
 
The action started off for Tabor with the Women's 800m race. Julianna Maxfield led the team with a time of 2:29.33 which was good for an 11^th place finish. Sydney Gardner, Adelia Janssen, and Andrea Serrano formed a nice pack to finish 14^th, 15^th, and 16^th with times of 2:38.03, 2:39.12, and 2:44.41 respectively. Sarah Dark rounded out the Bluejay athletes in the race finishing 19^th with a time of 3:01.44.
 
The Bluejay women would then compete in the 1500m race which saw four Bluejays finish in the top 10. Brooke Wiebe led the team with a fourth-place finish and a time of 4:47.43, while Danielle Allison and Sonya Zimmerman finished sixth and seventh with times of 4:49.26 and 4:50.61 respectively, while Hannah Grover finished with a time of 4:58.05 which was good for 10^th place. Kylie Arnold would finish in 19^th with a time of 5:33.83. 
 
The Bluejay men would take the track for the first time of the night in the 1500m race which saw four Tabor athletes compete, two of which finished in the top 20. Dillon Callaway led the way for the Bluejays and finished eighth with a time of 3:57.45 which topped his previous school record. Darren Klukas also finished in the top 20 for the Tabor men, running 4:09.83, good enough for 18^th. Apostolo Zuniga finished 42^nd with a time of 4:53.31 and Tyrel Haynes ran 4:57.60 and finished 43^rd.
 
Next up for the Bluejays was the women's 5000m race which saw three Bluejay women compete and all three finished in the top 20. Aubrey Bahner set an NAIA "B" Standard to punch her ticket to the NAIA National Championships in late May. Adrienne Selzer came in 17^th with a time of 19:17.62 and Kaylee DeAngelis ran a time of 20:10.03 good for 19^th place.
 
The Bluejays would conclude the individual events with the men's 5000m race. Ryan Stade not only won the race but ran a time of 14:36.76 to set an "A" standard and break his own previous school record. Three other athletes from Tabor competed in the race. Jerah Schmidt took 35^th with a time of 16:07.58, Ryan Villarreal took 39^th with a time of 16:13.97, and Logan Dybowski took 44^th with a time of 16:31.51.
 
The Tabor ladies entered two teams in the women's 4x800m relay, finishing second and fifth overall respectively. The first team, consisting of Danielle Allison, Brooke Wiebe, Hannah Grover, and Sonya Zimmerman ran a total time of 9:35.70, while the second team, consisting of Sydnee Gardner, Julianna Maxfield, Adelia Janssen, and Andrea Serrano ran a total time of 11:05.14.
 
The Bluejay men finished up the meet with the men's 4x800m relay. One team from Tabor competed in the race, consisting of Dillon Callaway, Darren Klukas, Brandon Geyer, Apostolo Zuniga, running a time of 8:51.52 and taking fifth place.
 
Distance Coach Rylan Hincher was pleased with his team's performance, "Really good day for our crew across the board. Coming off spring break, Ryan Stade punches his ticket to NAIA Outdoor nationals with an "A" Standard in the 5k and new school record! Aubrey Bahner runs a massive personal best to hit the "B" standard and punch her ticket as well! Dillon Callaway shaves a few decimals off his own school record in the 1500! There were several huge personal bests from multiple athletes this weekend. Kaylee DeAngelis shattered her 5k PR, Adrienne Selzer moves closer to the 19:00 barrier, Sonya Zimmerman shaves eight seconds off her 1500, Brooke Wiebe takes 11 seconds off, Grover debuts and breaks the five minute barrier! Darren Klukas get a heat win in his debut 1500! Adelia Janssen and Andrea Serrano open up with 800 personal bests! Ryan Villarreal run his 5k personal best." 
 
Speaking on the conditions of the meet and on the outlook of the team going forward Hincher said," We were very fortunate to have such great weather in March for our outdoor opener! We had some phenomenal performances and I definitely like where we are at heading into outdoor season. We looked really great coming off of spring break for the most part which is a testament to the culture of our team and that this matters a lot to them. Looking to build off this momentum and put down some great performances the next few weeks!"
 
Both the Men's and Women's Track & Field squads will be back in action this coming Saturday, March 23^rd and will be competing in North Newton, Kan. at the Bethel College Invitational.
 
Be sure to stay up to date with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and on our official athletic website, taborbluejays.com.

Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).