MNU Qualifies 6 for Outdoor Nationals

Fresh off opening MNU's Indoor Track & Field season at KU last week, the distance squad headed to Atchison, Kan. for the annual Rex Lane Half-Marathon to try and qualify for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships in the Marathon. On a course that has produced countless national qualifiers and former NAIA National Marathon Champions, the Pioneers were excited for the opportunity to race.
 
For the women, the Pioneers were led by senior Rachel White. Rachel competed last year at Nationals in the marathon and did a fantastic job of guiding those new in attempting to qualify. She finished 2nd overall in the race nearly six minutes under the A qualifying standard of 1 hour and 30 minutes. Next up, and 3rd in the race, was junior Lila Dreves. She was followed by senior and NAIA All-American in the Marathon Breanna Barney. Rounding out our women qualifiers was senior Kaylee Shanley. 
 
For the Pioneer men the team was led by sophomore Dakota Myers. Dakota qualified and ran in last years National marathon, and was excited to once again qualify. He did a great job ushering fellow teammate and sophomore Adam Oskvig. Both men finished well under the A standard of 1 hour 13 minutes and 30 seconds. Also running well for the men was senior Ryan Schaeffer. Ryan was running in his first half marathon and played a pivotal role in several of our athletes qualifying.
 
After the race Coach O'Grattan commented, "It was a great day for MNU. We knew what our abilities were, and today was about just going and getting the job done. The temperatures at race start were under 20 degrees, which is less than ideal, but that didn't deter our athletes. A lot of what was accomplished today could not have happened without the help of most of our distance squad, who came in support. That our group has such a strong family mentality is one of the things I am most proud of. Also, a big thanks goes out to the Barney family and Dr. Brown for their direct support of our athletes efforts today."
 
The team's finish qualifying six athletes in the marathon equals MNU's number of marathon qualifiers from 2017. The team will look to add to these qualifiers with a few more athletes making an attempt next March.