GENEVA — Kenadee Wayt extended her Mount Union record for All-American finishes in the final race of her Purple Raiders career.

Hope College sprinters Liam Danitz and Sara Schermerhorn ran away with All-America honors for the second time this season.

The two juniors raced to medal-earning honors at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, near Cleveland, to add to the national accolades they claimed at the indoor championships in March.

Danitz (West Branch, Michigan / Ogemaw Heights HS) finished fifth in the men’s 200-meter final, clocking a time of 21.33 seconds. The exercise science major took seventh in the 200 at the indoor finals.

Schermerhorn (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West) placed sixth in the women’s 400-meter final, posting a school-record time of 54.36 seconds. The exercise science major recorded a seventh-place finish in the event at the indoor championships.

On Thursday, Schermerhorn earned All-America Second Team distinction for the second time in the women’s 200 meters with an 11th-place finish. 

Head coach Kevin Cole praised both runners for their performances amidst challenging competition and conditions.

“Sara was really focused today. That field, it could have been anybody’s race; it was fast. Sara crushed the school record on less than an ideal day. She rose to the level of the competition,” Cole said. “Liam’s race was everything we expected. It was just close, fractions of a second except for [the winner]. At nationals, you realize it’s not about time, it’s just trying to beat the people you’re racing against. Liam beat most of them.”

Danitz became the Flying Dutchmen’s first 200-meter All-American for the second time in as many NCAA Championships.

The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse’s Sam Blaskowski repeated as national champion after clocking a time of 20.35 seconds. Danitz crossed the finish line just 0.18 seconds after national runner-up Kevin Arthur of Saint John’s University (Minnesota).

Schermerhorn became the Flying Dutch’s two-time First Team All-American in the 400 meters.

Sam Carchidi of Emory University (Georgia) captured the national title with a personal-best time of 53.94 seconds. Schermerhorn was one of seven runners in the field to record PR runs.

 

Gallery: (5-24-2025) NCAA Division III Outdoor Track/Field

PELLA — Two more Central College track and field athletes are coming home from the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships with All-American recognition after the meet’s final day of action Saturday.

Gunner Meyer (junior, Fairbank, Wapsie Valley HS) qualified for Saturday’s men’s 110-meter hurdles final in fifth place and was running well through eight of the 10 hurdles before taking a fall on the final hurdle. His time of 15.52 seconds was the slowest of nine runners in the final.

However, after protesting the results, it was revealed that the runner in the lane next to Meyer crossed the line and clipped his hurdle. He was disqualified, pushing Meyer to an eighth-place finish and a spot on the podium.

“He ran a great race until the last hurdle or two,” coach Brandon Sturman said. “The runner on the inside lane had his trail leg hit Gunner’s ninth hurdle. That’s just the sport; we caught a break. Gunner was deserving of a spot on the podium, but it just played out differently.”

Men’s triple jumper Kale Purcell (senior, Holton, Kan.) finished in 11th with a mark of 48 feet, 1.25 inches. A loaded field saw seven jumpers clear 15 meters (approximately 49 feet) after only six did it all season. Purcell still earned second team All-American honors.

“We obviously would have loved to make finals, but in the end he was happy with how he jumped,” Sturman said. “He jumped right around his PR. It was a tough competition. He was happy with how it ended but not satisfied.”

In her second event and third race of the weekend, Peyton Steffen (junior, Marion) was 19th in the women’s 5,000 meters in 17 minutes, 14.21 seconds.

“It was a lost faster race than last year,” Sturman said. “She was happy with how she ran. She hit her goal, but the faster race made it harder to get into those top 16 spots.”

           

In the team standings, the Dutch men tied for 26th and the women shared 52nd place. It was the men’s best finish since 2019, when they finished tied for 24th.

 

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See all the images from the boys and girls IHSA State Water Polo finals Saturday, May 24, 2025 at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire.