Nickelson's performance caps indoor nationals for Mustangs

BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Luke Nickelson captured all-America status for Mount Mercy as a total of 13 Mustangs competed at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships over the weekend at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.

Nickelson posted a personal-best in the triple jump on Saturday, leaping 14.90 meters to finish fifth in the nation while garnering all-America honors. He also broke his own school record in the event.

The men's 4x400 meter relay team of Nate Keiper, Keegan Thompson, Ceondae Adams, and Jordan Schroeder narrowly missed the finals, placing 10th in a controversial perlimary race with a time of 3:15.41. It was the top time of the season for the Mustangs in that event.

Three members of that relay team also competed individually at nationals. Thompson raced in three more events, finishing 11th in the 60 meter dash in :06.80 and 13th in the 400 meters with a time of :48.18. He also ran a season-best while placing 12th in the 200 meter dash in :21.37.

Adams raced in a pair of sprints for the Mustangs, placing 23rd in the 60 meter hurdles in :08.33 and 30th in the 60 meter dash with a time of :06.92.

Schroeder recorded a personal-best in the 600 meter rush at nationals, crossing the finish line in 1:21.58 which was good for 20th in the nation.

Track standout Breon Wade also qualified for nationals in the 60 meter dash, where he raced to the finish line in :06.91 to place 28th.

Shifting to field events, Mount Mercy's Caleb Rutherford and Mitch Miller competed in the shot put and weight throw, respectively. Rutherford set a PR in the shot put with a distance of 16.14 meters, which placed him 14th in the country. Miller's distance of 16.01 meters in the weight throw had him finishing 28th.

On the women's side, the Mustangs had five top-20 finishers at nationals. Abby Hill ran a PR in the 3,000 meter race walk, placing 12th in 17:16.07. Corinne Gadient was 19th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:23.79 and J'Lyn Knutson finished 20th in the 3,000 meters in 11:15.61.

Bre Nail and Ava Conrad competed in the shot put, with Nail coming in 15th with a toss of 12.64 meters and Conrad finishing 18th with a 12.43 meter effort.

Mount Mercy has a few weeks off before opening the outdoor season with the Midweek Classic on March 26 at 4:30 pm at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex.