ST. PETER, Minn. - The Bethany track & field teams took part in the midweek Gustavus Gustie Twilight on Wednesday. The Vikings enjoyed the beautiful weather en route to some great results.

The first event of the day was the 4x100-meter relay for both women and men. Both teams managed to take fourth in their respective events, with the women's team of Riley Ping, Avery Hopp, Samantha Kedsch, and Taryn Zellmann running a time of 51.94, and the men's team of Austin Skaden, Brandon Kellett, Matthew Koosman, and William Kaesermann running a time of 45.34 seconds.

The next positive result on the track came from James Younge in the 1500-meter run, where he ran a season best time of 4:27.92 for third place in the event. The next PR came from Benjamin Halvorson in the 400-meter dash, where he set a new personal best time of 52.56 seconds. Sarah Smith then ran her first 100-meter dash of the season, ending with a time of 14.15 seconds. Next, Ben Matzke ran a thrilling 800-meter run, where he finished in fourth place with a new personal best time of 2:01.92. Taryn Zellmann and Riley Ping then ran the 400-meter hurdles for the first time in their careers, ending with times of 1:16.81 and 1:21.59, respectively. The women rounded out the track events with the 4x200-meter relay, where the same team as the 4x100 meter relay finished in second place with a time of 1:55.92.

In the field, Jensen Gerdts was an early standout, with his personal best throw of 37.27 meters placing him ninth in javelin. Katelynn Tortorella continued her hot start to the outdoor season in the shot put with her second straight personal best throw of 10.60 meters, which also placed her in ninth. Nika Pittenger also set a new personal best in the shot put with a distance of 9.26 meters.

In the jumps, it was a great day for several Vikings. Skye Weyiouanna set a new season best in the pole vault with a height of 3.35 meters. Sarah Smith added her second PR of the day in the high jump, placing second with a height of 1.55 meters. Kaesermann and Isaac Smith set new marks in the long jump, with Kaesermann setting a new season best with a distance of 5.88 meters, and Smith participating in his first career meet, finishing with a distance of 5.15 meters. In the triple jump, Samantha Kedsch set a new personal record with a distance of 10.98 meters, placing fourth.

Coach Dom Santina had this to say about the meet, "Some really good efforts and big improvement with the nice weather. Jensen and Isaac did very well for just recently joining the team."

The Vikings next outing will be this Sunday in Northfield at Carleton College for the Carleton Relays meet.