By Jacob Norling
May 20, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's and Women's Track and Field is days ahead of their return to Gulf Shores, Alabama, where they will compete in the 2022 NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. Last season, Westmont Men's Track and Field finished in fourth place, which was the highest finish in the program's history.
 
This season, Westmont head coach Russell Smelley, who is in his 43rd season at the helm, is bringing 12 athletes that will be competing in 10 events.
 
On the men's side, headlining Westmont's return to Gulf Shores is sophomore Zola Sokhela. Sokhela, who won both the 800 meter run and the 1500 meter run last season, returns as the top national seed in both races. Joining Sokhela in the 800 is the duo of senior, Jason Peterson, and freshman, Jack Vanden Heuvel. Joining Sokhela in the 1500 is redshirt sophomore Adam King.
 
The lone Warrior on the men's side competing in the 10,000 meter run is redshirt sophomore Garrett Miller, while a quartet of Warriors cap things off for the men's team in the 4x800 relay. King, Peterson, and Vanden Heuvel will be joined by freshman Andres Leon in the 4x800, an event the Warriors finished in second place at last year's event.
 
In last year's 4x800 relay, King, Peterson, Sokhela, and John Baker earned All-American status for the Warriors. This season, at Indoor Nationals in March, King, Leon, Sokhela, and Vanden Heuvel all earned NAIA All-American status.
 
In 2021, the women's team brought just two members but this season, the Warriors come into Gulf Shores with six different women competing in six different events. For field events, Westmont's lone competitor is Abby Rumohr, who will be competing in the women's pole vault. At Indoor Nationals, in March, Rumohr was one successful clearance from being named an NAIA All-American.
 
In track events, the Warriors have four different women competing in four different mid-to-long distance races. Competing in the 1500 meter run will be freshman Abigail Hundley, who is following her older sister Madden after the elder Hundley competed in the event in Alabama last season.
 
Fellow freshman Kari Anema will compete for the Warriors in the 5,000 meter run, and sophomore Anneline Breytenbach will compete in the 10,000 meter run. Rounding things out for the club is senior Abigail Stadtlander who is competing in the half-marathon, and sophomore Lily Sween, who is competing in the women's heptathlon.
 
At Indoor Nationals in March, Anema, Breytenbach, and Abigail Hundley earned All-American status.
 
Competition at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships begins on Wednesday, May 25, and concludes on Friday, May 27 in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Links to live coverage and results will be available on the Westmont Athletics website.