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A Record-Breaking Season for Track and Field
鈥淭he 2025 season has been a historical one for our program,鈥� says Coach Kaczinski, head coach of the Covenant Track and Field team. On both the men's and women鈥檚 teams, the season has been defined by the progress the team has made within the program. Track and Field first started at Covenant in 2017, and as Covenant works to raise money for its own track and field, the team is pushing itself to set new standards for athletes who will come after them. 鈥淭hings that we鈥檝e been talking about with our program are beginning to seem realistic,鈥� states Coach Kaczinski. 鈥淕oals that we thought to be dreams are now becoming realities.鈥�
The indoor season began early, and so did the record-breaking. At the Birmingham Indoor Icebreaker, the season started strong with three school records and several performances that placed number two in the record books, including Josiah Mellott 鈥�25, who ran a time of 5.54.21 in the 3000m for a new indoor school record. As the indoor season continued, over 12 more records were broken across event groups. Some of these indoor records included the 60m dash and triple jump, both broken by Emma Christensen 鈥�25, long jump by Josephine Swinburnson 鈥�28, mens and womens shot put by Codey Parrish 鈥�28 and Sophia Wiersema 鈥�26, weight throw by Cheney Byrd 鈥�25, pole vault by Sarah Holler 鈥�28, and mens and womens 5000m by Ethan Saiki 鈥�27 and Evangelia Berry 鈥�27 just to name a few.
The outdoor season began over spring break in Myrtle Beach and continued into a series of outdoor meets, during which more records were broken. As the team worked towards the conference meet, notable performances included Evangelia Berry, who broke the 10000m school record closely followed by Emerson Tillery, Emma Christensen鈥檚 school record in triple jump, Ethan Saiki鈥檚 10000m school record, Sophia Wiersema and Emma Christensen who have the top two javelin throws in school history, Josiah Mellott鈥檚 800m record, Sarah Holler in Pole Vault, and school record in the women鈥檚 4x100m relay.
Although these records are impressive, the priority for the athletics program remains discipleship first, competition second. 鈥淢y number one goal for the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams is for them to grow their faith in Jesus Christ," says Kaczinski. "I believe we have the right talent to really come together and make some noise by the end of the season. I鈥檓 eager to continue our rich tradition by competing at a very high level.鈥�
Reflecting on a successful season, Coach Kaczinski describes the qualities he values in the team as they finish out a good season. 鈥淥ur team is full of selfless individuals with a love for the sport. When that sort of passion and team unity is cultivated, athletes begin to do things they never thought they could.鈥� He continues, 鈥淚n many ways, the 2025 season was exactly that. A group of servant leaders raising the bar together." Currently, all home track and field practices take place off campus, which is a difficult hurdle for the college, coaches, and athletes. By competing and practicing off campus, the team misses out on the opportunity of hosting others on Covenant鈥檚 beautiful mountaintop campus. With these things in mind, Covenant is currently raising funds to add a track and turf field to campus that will benefit current students, boost recruiting efforts, and provide a walking track for the local community.