Results

Day One recap

SAGINAW, Mich. - For the sixth straight year, Grand Valley State has swept GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. This year, the teams were victorious at the SVSU Fieldhouse on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University. This makes six consecutive titles for the men, while the women have won 16 straight indoor championships.

The women's team picked up 156.50 points for the title, easily outscoring Ashland in second (107), Hillsdale in third (86), Tiffin in fourth (76.50), and Saginaw Valley State in fifth (54) to round out the top five. The remainder of the women's field was Findlay (52), Wayne State (43), Malone (23), Lake Erie (21), Northern Michigan (19), Ferris (12), Walsh (9), and Northwood (4).

For the men, the Lakers earned a staggering 140 points to take the conference crown, edging second-place Findlay (99). Tiffin placed third (97), Ashland fourth (96), and Hillsdale fifth (58) to round out the top five. The remaining rankings of the men's side were Malone (34), Saginaw Valley (27), Lake Erie (22), Lake Superior State (15), Northwood (10), Walsh and Ohio Dominican (9), and Ferris State (5).

The second and final day of conference competition also saw several more records fall at the hands of a GVSU athlete. In the men's 3000 meter dash, Bryce Bradley set a GVSU, SVSU Fieldhouse, and GLIAC record in a scorching-fast 8:11.46. His run broke a GLIAC record that stood for 32 years, while the month-old SVSU Fieldhouse record fell as did the Grand Valley State record that was set in 2006 by Nathan Peck. Breanna Luba also set a new SVSU Fieldhouse record, running the 60 meter hurdles in a time of 8.62, and Sean Wells set a new GVSU record in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 7.79.

The first event on Sunday where a male Laker scored was in the high jump, with Brandon Bean hitting a provisional qualifying mark of 2.03 meters to tie for second, and Trent Chappell placing fourth with a mark of 2.03 meters. After clearing the 2.03 bar, Chappell passed over the 2.07 height to attempt to clear the 2.11 height, which he failed, and Darien Thornton placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 17.50 meters.

In the men's mile, all three Laker runners added to the GVSU point total. Ricky Perez placed second with a time of 4:11.60, Wuoi Mach placed third with a time of 4:12.23, and Mitchell Wilkins finished sixth with a time of 4:14.68.

Sean Wells earned points with a second place finish in the 60 meter hurdles. Wells ran a 7.99, finishing just .07 seconds off the winner in the event, while TJ Burnett (48.35) and Daniel Pung (48.66) placed fourth and fifth respectively in the 400 meter dash. Also scoring for GVSU in the running events were Luke Vasilion (5th, 6.97) in the 60 meter dash, Ethan Barnes (3rd, 1:51.43) and Joel Rietsma (4th, 1:52.09), Wells (2nd, 21:65) in the 200 meter dash, Nate Orndorf (6th, 8:29.71), and the 4x400 relay team (3rd, 3:13.13).

On the women's side, a total of 12 Grand Valley State athletes finished in the top five of their event, including three winners. Winners on the day for GVSU were Luba in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.62, Michaela Lewis in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.64, and Amy Cymerman in the 3000 meter run with a time of 9:38.91.

Also earning points for the Lakers were Jordyn Kiser in a three-way tie for seventh with a mark of 1.61 meters in the high jump, Kendra Foley (4:52.76) in second and Amy Creutz (4:56.35) in fourth in the mile, McKenna Mattson in fifth with a time of 8.77 in the 60 meter hurdles, Angela Ritter in fifth in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.64 and second in the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.80, Natalie Nelson in second in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:12.93, and Hannah Osborn (3rd, 9:46.10), Foley (4th, 9:51.20), and Jessica Janecke (5th, 9:53.83). The 4x400 relay team also earned points for GVSU, finishing second with a time of 3:48.25.

Following the meet, head coach Jerry Baltes was honored with the GLIAC Women's Coach of the Year Award, the 15th time he's received the award. Also earning an award for the Lakers was Alexis Duncan, taking home the GLIAC Freshman of the Meet in the field events after her win in the long jump on Saturday.

Now Grand Valley State plays the waiting game for who will be competing for the Lakers at the 2015 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will take place on March 13 and March 14 in Birmingham, Ala.