SAGINAW, MICH. – The Grand Valley State men's and women's track and field teams are in first place at the end of day one in the GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The men's team dominated day one with a leading score of 100 points, followed by Saginaw Valley with 35 points and Davenport with 21 points. The women's team is in first with 71 points, Saginaw Valley with 28 points and Northern Michigan with 27 points.  
 
The Lakers recorded eight first place finishes out of ten events on the day, while four of those events were "swept" by Grand Valley State athletes. Grand Valley State took over the women's 5000m, women's weight throw, men's long jump and men's weight throw as they claimed first, second and third in each event.
 
"We had a very positive day 1 of the GLIAC Championships, winning 8 titles! Kayce Rypma was exceptional in racing to the 5k win and a time that should get her into the NCAA Championships. Our men's DMR squad was clutch racing the entire race out front and hitting a time that should hold getting them into the NCAA Champs. We need to bring the same energy tomorrow and compete all day long and I am confident we will see many more positive results", said Head Coach Jerry Baltes.
 
In the throws events, Judith Essemiah claimed her third consecutive GLIAC Indoor Champion title recording a distance of 20.17m. Alaina Omondoe finished second with a distance of 18.67m and Shelby Ulven in third with a distance of 17.40m. On the men's side, Grand Valley State finished with the Top 4 distances. Jacob Urban took home first place with a new personal-best throw of 20.15m followed by James MacKey Jr. with a personal-best of 19.19m, Shane Byrne in third with a distance of 18.78m and Bryce Reynolds with a throw of 18.11m.
 
Luke Jelderks led the Lakers in the men's long jump finishing first with a distance of 7.13m, followed by Chanse Setzke in second with a distance of 6.84m and Caleb Taylor finishing in third with a distance of 6.83m. Colton Emeott and James Nutt tied for first place in the men's high jump clearing a height of 4.77m. Lindsey Strutz claimed first place in the women's pentathlon recording an overall score of 3481.
 
On the track, the Lakers took over the women's 5000m sweeping the Top 3 with Kayce Rypma leading the way. Rypma finished first with a personal-best time of 16:42.17 followed by Grace Pagone in a time of 16:54.74 and Madison Ebright with a time of 17:08.35. In the men's 5000m, Sam Martens recorded a first-place finish with a new personal-best time of 14:21.81. Samuel Baustert finished third in a personal-best time of 14:24.52. 
 
The men's DMR squad consisting of Nick Hoffman, Myles Rhodes, Patrick Lyell and Caleb Futter ended out the night recording a first-place finish for the Lakers in the distance medley relay with a new personal-best time of 9:44.94
 
Day two of the GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships will begin at 9 a.m. with the remaining men's heptathlon events followed by the field events at 10:30 a.m.
 
Advancing to Tomorrow's Finals: 
 
Women's 60m Hurdles
Destin Dorkins
 
Men's 60m Hurdles
Jackson Blanchard
Steven Harris
Ethan Smith

Women's 400m
Kate Zang 
Isabel Abdouch
 
Men's 400m
Ben Ireland
Myles Rhodes
Fallou Gaye
 
Women's 60m
Angelica Floyd
Melia Williams
 
Men's 60m
Jacody Sikora
Antonio Passarelli
Max Darling