The Eagle finished an undefeated regular season by crushing Byron Center in dual meet action on Thursday, 97-40. Ace Thomas cruised to victory in the 100- (11.65) and 200-meter dashes (23.95). Tyler VerMerris cleaned up in the hurdles, winning the 110s in a PR of 17.18 and the 300s in 44.01.  The Eagles' domination including winning every single race: Jon LaRue won the 400 (53.99). Tinsae Nelson won the 800 (2:02.94). Jack Peterson won the mile in 4:38, and Joe Waalkes won the two-mile in 10:52. The Eagles also took the 4 x 1, 4 x 2, 4 x 4, and 4 x 8 relays. The Eagles' field event performance was almost as dominant as their performance on the track. In the discus, Adam Sarjo continued his undefeated season with a first-place toss of 133'3". Joey Rauwerda won the pole vault, equaling his personal-best mark of 12'6". Simon Vanderbroek won the high jump with a leap of 5'6, while Jordan Rodgers made it a clean Eagles' sweep in the jumping events by taking the long jump (17'7.5"). Full results can be found at here. Ben Zwart 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 Grand Rapids Christian Boys Track and Field team swept two dual meets on Thursday, defeating Northview 88-41 and Forest Hills Central 91-46. Ace Thomas earned victories in the 100- (11.48) and 200-meter dashes (23.60), setting personal bests in both events, while Jon LaRue won the 400 with a personal record time of 53.03. Tinsae Nelson won the 800 in 2:16. Ben Zwart won the two-mile in 10:08, while Tyler VerMerris won the 110-meter hurdles in a PR time of 17.45. The 4 x 800-meter relay team of Sam Skillen, Ben Zwart, Rowan Jansen, and Jon LaRue won with a time of 8:50. In the field events, Adam Sarjo had a big day, winning the shot put with a personal-record toss of 41'3" and the discus with a PR mark of 140'6". Joey Rauwerda won the pole vault with a jump of 12', while Jordan Rogers won the long jump with a personal-best mark of 19'7". 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!

Adam Sarjo provided a highlight in the discus. After leading the event coming into the finals, he was passed for first place by Ryan Shinabery of Unity Christian. On his final throw, Sarjo unleashed a huge PR toss of 139’9” to take back first place and give the Eagles ten points. Joey Rauwerda was another field event champion for GRC; his jump of 12’6” was a personal-best. In the 800 meters, Tinsae Nelson pulled away from the field to win the event in a PR time of 2:05.96. Nelson also teamed with Pieter Boer, Rowan Jansen, and Jon LaRue to take second in the 4 x 400 meter relay in a season’s-best time of 3:41.18. Freshman Michael McNinch turned in a strong performance in the 100-meter dash to earn third in a personal-best 11.82, while Jack Peterson’s 4:35 PR in the mile was also good for third place. Ben Zwart cracked ten minutes in the two-mile (9:59) to take third, which was also Tyler VerMerris’s place in the 300 hurdles (47.30). CJ Jones also PRed in the shot put to take third with a toss of 41’4”. Unity Christian took the boys’ championship with 120 points to the Eagles’ 99.

Despite difficult conditions on Thursday, several Eagles turned in standout performances at the OK White Quad Meet at Grand Rapids, Christian. Ace Thomas edged teammate Ja’Martae Hogan for the win the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.67. Tinsae Nelson won the 800 in 2:08, while Jack Peterson outkicked the competition to earn the win the mile in 4:46. Andre Irving, Ace Thomas, Ja’Martae Hogan, and Brian Hunter earned the win the 4 x 100 meter relay in 47.22, while Jack Peterson, Tinsae Nelson, Rowan Jansen, and Jon LaRue won the 4 x 400 in 3:43. Adam Sarjo won the discus with a throw of 122’ 3”, and was part of an Eagle sweep of the top four spots in the shot put, led by CJ Jones with a toss of 41’ 0.5”. The Eagles picked up one more win in the pole vault, with Joey Rauwerda clearing 12’0” for a comfortable victory. 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.  Eagle Boys won 14 of the 17 events en route to an 88 to 44 victory.  Andre Irving led the Eagles to a clean sweep of the top three spots in the 100, and also took the victory in the 200. In the 400, the Eagles were led by Jon LaRue, who turned in a PR time of 54.62 to win. In the distance events, Reuben Wiering won the 800 in 2:18; Jack Peterson won the 1600 in 4:47; and Joe Waalkes ran away with a 3200 win in 11:06. Adam Sarjo was the king of the throws, earning the win in the shot put (39’5”) and the discus (123’8”). Simon Vanderbroek won the high jump, while Parker Doornbos won the long jump. Joey Rauwerda won the pole vault with a jump of 12’0”. The Eagles won the 4 x 200 and the 4 x 800, and put an exclamation mark on the meet in the days’ final event, the 4 x 400 relay. After leading through the first two legs, South Christian took the lead on the third 400. Jon LaRue took the baton trailing by eight meters, but pulled even on the back stretch. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he pulled away from the competition and powered home to victory, running a stellar 52.9 split to give the Eagles a win in 3:45. 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.