Cedarville stands out against the country’s best at the Virginia Challenge

By Matt Schaeckenbach

To be the best, you have to beat the best. However, the Yellow Jackets have struggled this season to find competition capable of pushing them to their limits. 

In the previous weeks, Cedarville has smashed record after record, rewriting the books and shattering their competitors in the process. 

However, an elite group of Yellow Jackets headed down to Virginia this weekend for their toughest competition yet. Racing against powerhouse DI schools–such as Penn State, Virginia and North Carolina. Cedarville rose to the occasion, going head-to-head with schools almost 10 times its size. 

The first Yellow Jacket to step up for the challenge was junior school-record holder Caleb Sultan in the 800 meters. 

Sultan faced one of the deepest fields in the entire meet in the men’s 800. Most notable was the Penn State team, which is widely considered the best 800 meter program in the nation, with six runners all running 1:48 or lower–a blazing time in this event. 

Along with the Penn State runners, Sultan would face elite competition from schools such as Georgetown, Virginia and Ole Miss. However, despite the loaded field, Sultan attacked the race like any other. 

“I got out well, but the air was very dry, so about 200 meters in, I felt like I couldn’t breathe,” Sultan said. 

He held onto the pace through the first lap and a half, sitting towards the back of the pack, but gearing up for a strong close. 

Swinging off the turn, Sultan started to pick off his competitors. However, it was too little too late, as he crossed the finish line in sixth place for his heat with a 1:49.37–a new school record for the Yellow Jackets. However, he only managed to place 25th in the event, demonstrating the fierce competition at this meet.

“I’m happy,” Sultan said, “but can’t help being a little disappointed because I need to go faster to make nationals. Wish I could’ve been a little higher up and run faster, but I gave everything I had.”

Sultan’s time currently ranks him No. 24 in DII this outdoor season.

Following Sultan’s record-breaking time, junior Brandon Rogers stepped into the spotlight in the men’s 400 meter dash. 

Running against another loaded line-up, Rogers ran in the fast heat, running against some of the best quarter-milers in the country. However, after a strong weekend at Tennessee the previous week and more and more stellar performances under the belt, Rogers toed the line with the nation’s best with little fear. 

Rogers held his own against the field in the first 200 meters, showcasing his speed as well as his endurance as he kept the DI competitors close.

“I got a good start,” Rogers said. “Got out harder than I did at Tennessee, which was the goal. It was a little windy on the back stretch, but I stayed with the pack the first 200.”

With 200 meters left to go, Rogers shifted gears. 

“I went for it,” Rogers said. 

The field began to spread out as Rogers opened up his stride, pulling away with the leaders and closing in on the finish line. Using his competitor just to his outside, Rogers began to cut down on the lead to the first two runners.

However, as has been the theme of this season, the finish line came too soon for Rogers, as he crossed in fourth place in a time of 46.62 seconds–a new Cedarville school record. 

“I didn’t feel like I had the gear, but I definitely think the effort was there to run even faster,” Rogers said. “Happy with it.”

However, Rogers and Sultan weren’t done shining for the Yellow Jackets yet. The duo teamed up for the 4×400 meter relay, an event Cedarville has been dominating throughout the entire outdoor campaign. Together with teammates Jeremy Johnson and Michael Braxton, the quartet raced against teams from Virginia, North Carolina, and George Mason in their heat.

The Yellow Jackets started off strong, with Jeremy Johnson putting them in the middle of the pack around fourth at the first exchange. However, North Carolina was a solid twenty meters ahead of the field after the first exchange.

Johnson handed off to Sultan, and the chase was on. Sultan tore around the first turn, quickly tracking down his competitors and tucking in with them until the final straightaway. Slingshotting around them, he moved Cedarville into second as he passed the baton to Braxton.

Braxton still had a fifteen meter gap between him and the lead runner from North Carolina. However, coming into the final turn, the Tarheel began to fade, giving Braxton an opening that he quickly took. Opening up his stride, he stormed down the finish line towards Rogers on the anchor leg. 

Rogers got the baton in first and didn’t look back. Cruising around the track, Rogers threw down a leg that proved too much for North Carolina. Splitting a 46.1 on the final lap, Rogers crossed the finish line in first place for the Yellow Jackets, winning them the meet in a solid time of 3:10.28. 

“The 4×4 was pretty fun,” Sultan said, “but DI schools need to up their game. Cedarville came to play, and we were expecting competition, but we ended up beating everyone pretty handily.”

“It was exciting to race good competition,” Rogers said.

The Yellow Jackets had other strong performances from their athletes, with rising star Evan Meisberger running his way to a provisional qualifying mark in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 53.06 seconds. Along with Meisberger, senior Emily Walsh made her outdoor debut after a small bout with injury following her indoor campaign. With minimal training, she posted a strong mark for her first race back, running a time of 4:30.75 in the 1500 and placing 14th overall.

Needless to say, the Yellow Jackets are running some of their best times at this point in the season, and with only a few weeks before the Conference meet at Hillsdale, Michigan, Cedarville will look to capitalize on another opportunity to face off against some of DII’s best.

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