Despite a valiant effort, the Eagles came up just short in a dual meet against Byron Center on Thursday. Violet Talsma led the way as a double-event winner for GRC; Talsma took the discus with a personal-best throw of 84'10", and also won the 100 hurdles. Several other Eagles earned individual victories on the day: Marie Line Henderson won the 100 in 13.66, and Kristin Winkle won the mile with a huge personal best time of 5:41. Olivia Waalkes earned the win in the 3200 in 12:23; Anna Wittung won the pole vault with a jump of 8'6", and Nadia Schoon won the long jump with a mark of 13'9". The Eagles also earned wins in the 4 x 400 relay (4:48) and the 4 x 800 relay (10:58). Full results can be found here. Madelyn Frens and Natalie VanOtteren will compete in the prestigious Blue Jay Elite 3200 tomorrow in Shepherd, Michigan. The full squad returns to action next week for the Conference Championships.  Come on out and support Eagles Track and Field!

The Eagles split a pair of Track and Field contests Thursday, defeating Northview 92-45, but dropping to Forest Hills Central, 78-59. Several athletes earned event wins on the day.  Marie Line Henderson won the hundred-meter dash in a personal-record time of 13.55. Madelyn Frens won the two-mile in a season's-best time of 10:40, while Rowan Cebulski won the 100-meter hurdles in 17.47. Cebulski also won the high jump with a leap of 5'2", continuing her undefeated streak in the event. Kristin Winkle won the shot put with a toss of 25'7", while Violet Talsma made it a clean sweep of the throws by winning the discus with a personal-best mark of 78'5". Nadia Schoon was the Eagles other event winner, with her leap of 14'9.5" taking first place. Full results can be found here. GRC is back in action on Saturday when they compete at the East Grand Rapids Classic. Come see the Eagles in action!  

Rowan Cebulski took home three event wins to lead the Eagles, winning the high jump (5’2), pole vault (9’0”), and 100 hurdles (17.27). She also earned second in the 300 hurdles with a mark of 56.46. Madelyn Frens took home two golds as well for the Eagles, winning the mile in 5:04 and the two-mile in 11:14. Her two-mile race was part of a sweep of the top three positions, as teammates Natalie VanOtteren (12:06) and Olivia Waalkes (12:28) blew away the field to seal the Eagles’ overall win. Also playing key roles in the win were Makayla Lyons, who picked up valuable points in the 100, taking second in 14.08, as well as Violet Talsma, who earned silver in the discus with a mark of 77’4”. The Eagles’ team point total of 155 bested second-place Holland Christian by 47.5 points.  The Eagles return to action on Tuesday when they compete with Forest Hills Northern, East Grand Rapids and Greenville @Greenville. Check out the complete meet results here.

Despite difficult conditions on Thursday, several Eagles turned in standout performances at the OK White Quad Meet at Grand Rapids, Christian. Madelyn Frens ran away from the field in the 1600 to take the win in 5:13. Frens also teamed up with Payton Holtz, Kristin Winkle, and Anna Triezenberg to win the 4 x 400 relay in 4:32, while the 4 x 800 relay team of Olivia Waalkes, Natalie Van Otteren, Naomi Nelson, and Sammy Bishop earned the win in 10:38. Rowan Cebulski was the Eagles’ other event winner, as she demolished the field in the high jump, winning with a leap of 5’2”.  The team competition was scored as three separate dual meets; the boys won all three head-to-head matchups, while the girls lost to Lowell but defeated Greenville and Byron Center. Grand Rapids Christian returns to action on Saturday when they compete in the Houseward Invitational.

Eagle Athletes Get Back on Track After missing the track and field season last spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic, both the boys and girls track and field squads got their seasons off to stellar starts with dominant wins over South Christian on Tuesday.  The GRC girls won 13 of 17, tallying a convincing 99 to 38 victory.  Depth was the story of the day, with nine different athletes earning event victories. Marie Line Henderson won the 100 in 13.61, while Payton Holtz won the 800 in 2:46. Madelyn Frens crushed the competition in the mile with a strong mark of 5:07, currently the fastest time in the state of Michigan. In the two-mile, Natalie VanOtteren led an Eagle sweep, pulling away from the competition in 12:05. Off the track, Grand Rapids Christian was even more impressive, earning wins in every single field event. Rowan Cebulski leapt 5’5” to take the high jump, tied for the highest jump in the state this season. Nadia Schoon won the long jump in 14’10.25”, and Ana Witting picked up the win the pole vault with a jump of 7’6”. In the throws, two Eagle freshmen picked up wins, with Olivia Thomas earning gold in the shot while Violet Talsma won the discus by over thirty feet. The Eagles also put the clinic in the relays, earning wins in the 4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400, and 4 x 800. Grand Rapids Christian will look to build on their early-season success when they participate in an OK White Quadrangular meet on Thursday, April 15th.