Rogers shatters record, leads Cedarville in strong day two at Ashland

By Matt Schaeckenbach

What would you do if you were told you had to chase down an Olympian? For Cedarville’s Brandon Rogers, that question became a reality as he lined up against former World Champion and Olympian, Trevor Bassitt. 

Bassitt was a member of the gold medal 4×400 meter USA team at the 2023 World Athletic Championships, splitting a 45.29 for the first leg. He also ran a personal record 47.38 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles–a lightning-quick time for most runners in the flat 400. 

Toeing the line, Rogers stared down one of America’s best in the men’s elite 400-meter at the Jud Logan Lightgiver Invitational. 

“I was nervous–more nervous than I’ve been in a while,” Rogers said. 

As the gun fired, Rogers took off, and the chase was on.

Bassitt bolted out of the blocks, quickly pulling shoulder to shoulder with two-time Division II National Champion in the 400, Joshua Page. 

“I focused on running my own race,” Rogers said. “I knew Trevor [Bassitt] and Josh [Page] had more speed than me, so I didn’t want to go out too fast and burn out.” 

Rogers’ evaluation proved true, as Bassitt and Page quickly pulled away, winning the cut-in and pulling away from the rest of the field. Rogers trailed by nearly 15 meters down the backstretch, but stayed calm. 

“I knew I had to find another gear,” Rogers said. “I just kept pushing.” 

And that’s exactly what he did.

Flying around the curve, Rogers began to close the gap to the two front-runners. Bassitt began to pull away from Page, the fading national champion, but Rogers kept rolling with his powerful stride. With every stride, Rogers reeled in his competitors, getting closer to the national champion and slowly cutting the gap to the world gold medalist. 

In the final meters, Rogers eclipsed Page, but just ran out of room to catch Bassitt.

“I could tell it was a fast time,” Rogers said. “I was skipping around, excited, before even seeing the clock.” 

When the time came up, the crowd went wild. Rogers had run a 46.48, just over half a second behind the world champion. The time ranks Rogers No. 2 in Division II, falling just .06 seconds behind Claflin’s Jaevon Riley. 

It was over a second faster than Roger’s previous school record performance, which he ran last week at Wittenberg. 

“I felt so much joy and gratitude to God for giving me the opportunity to race such fast opponents,” Rogers said.

With Roger’s record-shattering performance, the Yellow Jackets rode that momentum for the rest of the day. Junior Caleb Sultan threw down in the 800 against a loaded field. Pulling away from the field early on, Sultan maintained his smooth stride through the first lap. 

But Saginaw Valley’s Bryce Husen challenged Sultan going into the second lap, pulling past Sultan and taking the initiative. As the pair raced down the backstretch, Sultan put in a surge, pulling ahead of Husen going into the final turn. 

Holding his stride, Sultan raced his way to the finish line, clocking a 1:51.06, winning the competition by over a second. 

Another strong performance came from the Lady Jackets’ Emily Walsh, who took the title in the women’s one mile run. An All-American in the 1500 outdoor, Walsh came into the competition primed for success, but was challenged to the line by Ashland’s Hope Sievert. 

The pair held their positions for most of the race, but as the bell lap came around, Sievert made her move. Swinging onto Walsh’s shoulder, she contested the lead. 

However, Walsh put in a surge, keeping Sievert on her shoulder around the final curve as they went stride for stride to the line.

Finding another gear, Walsh closed the final meters to win with a time of 4:54.57, barely edging out Sievert by a tenth of a second. 

Cedarville posted numerous other strong performances, going toe-to-toe with their conference rivals Ashland and Tiffin. With only three weeks left until the GMAC Conference Championships, the title is still up for grabs, with any team looking like they could take the crown on a given day. 

The Yellow Jackets will compete at the NCCAA Championships at home on Feb. 13 and 14, and at the GVSU Big Meet in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the same weekend. 

Matt Schaeckenbach is a Junior Liberal Arts major from Iowa City, Iowa. He loves spending time with friends, playing board games, and encouraging others in Christ.