Ngure Takes NAIA Marathon Title, Named Outstanding Performer

5/24 -  Just when you thought it couldn't get any better for Forester senior, John Ngure, he follows up his national championship in the 10,000 meter run with a second title in the marathon with his time of 2:28:27.00. Read more...
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Ngure National Champ in 10,000

5/22 -  Competing in his final NAIA National Championship, senior John Ngure ran away from the pack to claim his first National Championship in the 10,000 meter run. Senior Natalie Guenin finished seventh in the women's 10,000 meter run and shattered her own school record in the process with her time of 38:02.97. Read more...

Six to Compete at NAIA Nationals

5/20 -  Six Huntington College track and field Foresters qualified to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships to be held Thursday through Saturday, May 22-24, 2003, in Olathe, Kan. Erin Abbey, Melissa Bortner, Natalie Guenin, Brook Welch, Jonathan Doyle and John Ngure qualified in their respective events by meeting specific times or distances set by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) prior to the start of the outdoor season. Read more...

Abbey Lands PR in Long Jump
5/9 -  Four individuals competed at the Dr. Keeler Track and Field Invitational at North Central College to continue preparing for the NAIA National Track and Field Championships later this month on May 22-24 in Olathe, Kansas. Erin Abbey landed a personal best in the long jump with her leap of 18' 0.5", making her just the second women in school history to surpass the 18 foot mark. Shannon Egbert holds the school record of 18' 6.5". Abbey also competed in the 200 (7th, 27.15) and the 400 hurdles (13th, 1:12.70). Melissa Bortner ran the 100 hurdles (7th, 15:49), the 100 (17th, 13.87), and the 200 (13th, 28,15). Brooke Welch was 16th in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 12:01.31, and Jonathan Doyle finished 12th in the 400 hurdles with a time of 55.77.

Qualifiers Tune Up For Nationals
5/3 -  Seven Foresters, five women and two men, competed at the Butler Twilight Track Meet, while two other men ran a half marathon. Some were competing to try to meet NAIA National qualifying standards, and some, who have already qualified in their respective events, were using the opportunity to fine tune their performance. Of the three that were looking to qualify for Nationals, Jonathan Doyle rose to the challenge and recorded a personal best of 54.73 in the 400 hurdles to earn him a berth in the NAIA National Championships. His time also brought him within three tenths of a second of the school record. Although Nicole Jacob did not meet qualifying standards in the 1500 meter race, she ran under five minutes for the first time in her career (4:56.01), taking four seconds off her previous personal best. The time enters her onto the Huntington College Top-Ten list in the 1500 at number eight. David St. Louis competed in the 3000 meter steeplechase and finished 16th in 9:57.97. Four women were competing to try to improve on their qualifying marks. Erin Abbey finished 10th in the long jump (17' 7 3/4") and thirteenth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:06.39). Melissa Bortner was 16th in the 100 meter hurdles in 15.97. Natalie Guenin ran a 19:00.05 5000 meter race for a 25th place finish, and Brooke Welch finished 18th in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 11:58.98. John Ngure, who has already qualified for Nationals in the 10,000 meter run, ran in a half marathon at Shadyside Park in Anderson, Ind. and met qualifying standards with his time of 1:11:15.0. He also broke the school record (1:14:51.0) in the event set by Fred Miller in March of 2000. Chris Buehrer ran in the event as well and missed the qualification mark by less than a minute with his 1:18:27.9 time.

Women Third, Men Fifth in MCC
4/25-26 -  The Foresters competed in the Mid-Central Conference Championships this weekend, and the women finished third with 145.20 points while the men placed fifth with 71.50 points.  For the women, Erin Abbey led the Foresters with three individual first place finishes.  She won the 400 meter dash in 59.35, the 400 hurdles in 1:05.83, and the long jump with a leap of 17' 7".  Abbey also finished sixth in the 200 and was a member of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays that each placed fourth.  Natalie Guenin was HC's only other winner with her top finish in the 10,000 in 38:19.97.  Guenin also was second in the 1500 and third in the 5000. Other top scorers for HC were Melissa Bortner (2nd, 100; 5th, long jump; 6th, high jump), Michelle Hart (3rd, 400 hurdles; 5th, 100 hurdles), Lindsey Van Gelder (3rd, triple jump; 4th, hammer throw; 7th, discus), and the 4x800 relay team of Courtney Gullickson, Nicole Jacob, Missy Kostrewa, and Brooke Welch finished third.  Indiana Wesleyan took home the women's title with a score of 255.20 and Bethel was second with 193 points.  Taylor won the men's championship with 202 points followed by Bethel (159), Indiana Wesleyan (143), Goshen (86.5).  HC's John Ngure earned two individual titles in the 5000 (15:00.46) and the 10,000 (31:11.19) to led the Foresters.  Other top performers for the men included Dan Smith, who landed a jump of 21' 1 1/2" to take the long jump title, Jonathan Doyle, who was third in the 400 hurdles, fourth in the 110 hurdles, and seventh in the triple jump, David St. Louis, who was third in the 3000 meter steeplechase.  

Foresters Dominate Earlham Invite
4/19 -  The men and women's track teams swept the competition at the Earlham College Track Invitational with both winning their respective championship. The women dominated the field with 10 first place finishes on their way to 192 points. The men had three first place finishers to end the day with 116 points. Read more...

Bortner Wins Heptathlon
4/15-16 -  On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Forester Melissa Bortner competed in her first heptathlon against three other women from Indiana Wesleyan and won with a score of 3697, almost 200 points better than the runner-up. Her point total also broke the school record (3589) set by Lindsay Motta in 1998 by more than 100 points. This marks her second school record within the week as she tied the mark in the 100 meter hurdles at the Indiana Little State meet this past Saturday with her time of 14.92 in the prelims. In the heptathlon, Bortner posted the best time in the 100 meter hurdles (15.24) and the 200 meter run (28.94), and landed the longest leap in the long jump (4.93 meters). Other events included the high jump (2nd, 1.39 meters), shot put (2nd, 8.61 meters), javelin (3rd, 26.86 meters), and the 800 meter race (3rd, 2:53.24).  Tiah Romagnoli was second with 3498 points, Jodi Veenkant was third with a score of 2839, and Stephanie Wesolowski finished forth with 2750 points.

Abbey, Ngure Shine at Little State
4/12 -  The men and women's track team competed in the Indiana Little State Track meet at Indiana Wesleyan University and finished twelfth and sixth respectively. In the men's competition, John Ngure led the Foresters, winning the 5,000 meter race with a time of 15:09.98 and finishing second in the 10,000 meter in 31:06.74.  In women's action, Erin Abbey won the long jump with a score of 5.37 meters, finished second in the 400 meter race with a time of 59.52, and placed fourth in the 400 hurdles in 1:08.48. Read more...

Abbey, Ngure lead Foresters at Manchester Invitational
4/5 -  The men and women's track teams competed at the Manchester College Invitational and came away with third and second place finishes respectively. The men were led by John Ngure's two individual wins in the 1500 meter run (4:11.00) and the 5000 meter race (15:13.48). On the women's side, Erin Abbey collected three wins to led HC to a second place finish with 178 points. Read more...

Foresters finish 6th, 10th in all-weather invitational
3/29 -  In a 20-team field with weather ranging anywhere from wind to rain, sleet to snow, the Foresters finished sixth in the women's team standing at the Jerry England Invitational at IUPUI in Indianapolis while the men placed 10th overall. Read more...

Two qualify to nationals at FSU Relays
John Ngure and Natalie Guenin earned automatic qualifications in the 10,000 meter run at the Florida State Relays. Ngure won his event and Guenin smashed the school record by 45 seconds. Competing against various Division I schools, the Foresters turned in strong performances to open their outdoor season. Read more...

Foresters fair well at National Championships
Four Forester track and field athletes competed at the NAIA Indoor National Track and Field Championships in Johnson City, Tenn., from March 6-8. John Ngure earned his ninth All-American honor of his stellar running career while three women represented the Foresters with excellent performances. Read more...

Four Foresters to run at NAIA Indoor National Championships
3/4 - Erin Abbey, Melissa Bortner, Natalie Guenin, and John Ngure qualified to the NAIA Indoor National Track and Field Championships to be held March 6-8, in Johnson City, Tenn. Read more...

Foresters compete at Anderson Invite 
2/28 - The men and women's track teams competed in their final indoor competition of the season, an un-scored invitational hosted by Anderson University. HC's Erin Abbey and Ashley Gonterman both won two events on the day while Melissa Bortner put together an impressive day for the Foresters as well. In men's action, Jared Neale was the lone Forester to win an event, taking the 1000 meter run. Read more...

Forester women dominate home meet
2/22 - Ashley Gonterman and Erin Abbey combined for five individual first place finishes and were both on the winning 4x2-lap relay team to lead the Foresters to the win of their own Frozen Forest Invitational. Leading the way for the men's second place finish were Jonathan Doyle, John Ngure and Cory Thompson. Read more...