The Men's Track & Field team split squads this weekend and during The Big Meet hosted by Grand Vlley State University, history was made.

Nathan Martin won the 5,000 with a new school record time qualifying him for the NAIA National meet.  His time is the 15th fastest in the country now in all divisions and is the top time in the NAIA.  But from a Spring Arbor perspective, this was a record that was originally set in 1975 by SAU legendary distance runner Tony Lutrell with a time of 14:44.61.  No one had come close to that record for 36 years until Martin broke it by 24 seconds in 2011 with a time of 14:20.65.

Running in the Big Meet against 145 runners, so many they ran five separate heats, Martin blistered the course and completed the race in first place with a time of 14:11.79.  While it does break his own record, Martin's time is more than 32 seconds faster than a record that stood for more than 36 years.

In other Track & Field action, Spring Arbor standards were also met by:

Kyle Anderson set a new PR in the 5000m 14:58.89 qualifying for NAIA Nationals

Andrew Guzdial won the 800 with an indoor pr time of 1:59.34

Jeremy Rogers and Tim Canfield cleared 15 feet in the pole vault and just missed qualifying for NAIA Nationals but have qualified for NCCAA.

Garrett Reid jumped 21'3 in the long jump 10th best in school history

Tim Jonkman ran 7.34 in his college career debut 60m, 9th fastest in school history

 "I was pleased to see the team take strides forward in their build up for our league championship in 10 weeks," said Head Coach, Dante Ottolini.  "It was a fun weekend watching guys hit new personal best times and marks.  Highlight of the weekend was watching Nathan Martin pull off the biggest win of his career against a strong and deep field."

The men will compete next at the NCCAA National Championships in Marion, IN hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University on February 15-16.