On January 28, 2017, the Southwestern Spartans track and field team traveled to the 2017 Dennis Young Classic hosted by Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. The highlight of the day came in one of the first events of the meet, the high jump. Ronald Henderson took first place while competing against a plethora of NAIA division level competition. Henderson also qualified for the NJCAA Division I Indoor National Championships with a jump of 2.00 meters. Henderson will represent the Southwestern Spartans in Pittsburg, KS, at Pittsburg State University on Saturday, March 4.

The Spartan female sprinters continued their hot start. In the 60 meter dash, Younis Bese and Sisillia Seavula earned first and second place finishes respectively. Seavula then went on to finish first in the 200-meter dash with a season record time of 26.64 seconds.

A Southwestern school record was broken on Saturday in the 1,000-meter run. Jalen Two Leggins clocked in at 2 minutes and 47 seconds. The previous record was 2:49.00.

In the overall team rankings, the women finished eighth of 11 teams, tallying 31 points after 19 scored events. The men ranked 11th of 11 teams with 13 total points.

"We left the Dennis Young Classic with a few injuries that really limited our performance on both the men's and women's sides," commented Spartan Interim Head Coach Jordan Strofaci. "We will focus on rehabbing this week and getting key athletes back on the track."

The Spartans next competition is Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Grinnell College Invitational, in Grinnell.