ARRAN KEARNEY Staff Writer
Coach Parsley has very good reason to be excited looking ahead to the KCAC Championship Indoor meet later this month. This indoor season has undoubtedly been Bethels best in recent history, with outstanding athletic performances across the board.
“With each passing week our performances seem to be only getting better and better - we now have more athletes ranked in the top twenty-five nationally than we’ve ever had” Parsley said.
This puts the Threshers in good standing as Conference fast approaches. If all goes well, Parsley believes that the team could rank as high as third, which would be an enormous improvement on last year's seventh.
It is a bold prediction, but a very feasible one. The athletic program has hit new heights over the winter, breaking several prominent college records. New records in both the men and women’s distance medley and 4x800 relays points to the growing strength of the team, which only seems set to expand further next semester.
Other notable performances include the new indoor 3k records set by Mauro Arancibia and Natalie Graber, and the long and triple jump records claimed by Stephany Meyer.
“The team has had an incredible struggle over the past few months. The coronavirus has forced event organizers to impose really heavy restrictions on their events capacities and schedules, which has meant some extremely long weekends, some of them stretching over three days,” said Parsley.
Yet the team has been undeterred. One recent meet at Wichita State saw almost every athlete PR. It is unsurprising that Bethel currently has athletes ranked in the top twenty-five nationally across thirteen different events. The men’s team has also received a good ranking recently at 15th nationally. These incredible achievements are a testament to the hard work and dedication that the men and women have shown in their training throughout the season.
With their recent performances, some of these athletes have proven themselves to be amongst the best in NAIA. Braylen Brewer for example is ranked seventh and sixth in the 200 and 400 meters respectively. Austin Cheatham has gone one better – ranking fifth nationally in shot put.
Looking at these rankings and others Parsley believes that, as things stand, “we have an excellent chance of getting multiple athletes to Nationals this year.”
Especially promising in this regard are the record-breaking relay squads which, should they qualify, could mean that Bethel would be sending a large contingent of athletes up to the event in Yankton, South Dakota in March.
Coach Parsley is also determined to improve the reach and stature of the athletics program within the Conference.
On March 6, Bethel hosted their first ever indoor athletics meet at Wichita State University. This provided the athletes one more chance to showcase their impressive talents before the Conference Meet, taking place at WSU. Hopefully the program can finish the season on a high.
“(I am) extremely proud of everything that my athletes have been able to do this Winter – and I am confident that we can improve even more over the coming year,” said Parsley.