ALLENDALE, Mich. – Grand Valley State track and field closed out their third meet of the season this evening on home turf. The Lakers welcomed more than 1,100 athletes to the Kelly Family Sports Center as they hosted the GVSU Bill Clinger Classic today. Through 30 events, more than 50 GVSU athletes recorded personal-best marks, nine landed in Grand Valley State's all-time top 10 and three broke GVSU program records. One of those broken program records belongs to Erika Beistle, the new women's record holder in NCAA Division II Indoor Shot Put.
 
MEET RESULTS
 
Sam Allen was the first to break a program record at today's meet. The redshirt-sophomore finished first overall in the men's 600m, crossing the finish line at a record-breaking 1:18.53. The time is more than three seconds faster than his previous personal-best, 1:21.91.
 
To no one's surprise, Erika Beistle broke Grand Valley's shot put record this evening... again. The feat comes just one week after shattering the program record that was, you guessed it, held by Beistle. On her fourth throw, Beistle a threw for a massive 17.78m (58-4), effectively shattering the 17.35m (56-11) record she posted last week. Not only did the Lakers' record fall, but the NCAA Division II Indoor record did, too. Previously held by West Texas A&M's Zada Swoopes, Beistle overthrew her mark by 0.10m to exceed the record of 17.68m (58-0.25). In addition to holding the best time NCAA DII has ever seen, the throw ranks third across all NCAA divisions and sixth in the world.
 
Dolan Gonzales put on a pole vault masterclass at today's meet. The junior opened competition at 4.97m (16-3.5), a mark that many had few had reached. After clearing the height on his second attempt, Gonzales easily cleared 5.12m (16-9.5) and moved onto 5.22m (17-1.5). The mark was 0.75 inches shy of his personal-best, so when he cleared it on his second attempt, he knew he could conquer new heights (literally). After passing the next two heights, Gonzales attempted to break not only his personal-best, but the Grand Valley State program record, as well. On his third and final attempt at 5.35m (17-6.5), he soared over the bar, which stayed still through his drop. Just like that, Gonzales shattered the men's pole vault record that had stood since 2007 and became the new number one in NCAA Division II.
 
Women were the first to compete in weight throw and notched several PRs in the process. Behind Shelby Ulven's 19.69m (64-7.25) first place throw, Emily Stinson led the way with a personal-best 18.87m (61-11) throw to rank number 10 in Grand Valley State program history and seventh in NCAA DII. Kennedy Jackson recorded a new best with a 17.57m (57-7.75) ranking 20th in DII and Avery Lahti found the 26th spot in Division II with a new personal-best weight throw of 17.24m (56-6.75).
 
Though no personal-bests were thrown by the men, all five in the invite flight had big throws. Sebastian Tesch (21.16m (69-5.25)), Brandon Schirck (20.73m (68-0.25)) and Lucas Lesher (19.66m (64-6)) claimed spots one through three of the flight and Michael Griffey (19.54m (64-1.25)) found fifth.
 
In shot put, Paige Westra, Avery Lahti and Kennedy Jackson notched big throws, as well. Westra ranked second in the event with a 15.74m (51-7.75) personal-best throw, moving her to number five in NCAA DII and GVSU all-time history. Lahti's personal-best 14.29m (46-10.75) came on her third throw and puts her at 14 in NCAA DII, while Jackson's season-best 13.54m (44-5.25) ranks her 28th in Division II.
 
Two personal-bests were recorded in long jump this afternoon. Kaitlyn Molnar led the way, tying her PR of 5.69m (18-8) to maintain her spot as number six all-time at Grand Valley State. Freshman Mirra Fenlon also jumped for a personal-best mark, landing at 5.36m (17-7).
 
Adalyn Liang not only advanced to the 60m dash finals, but recorded a personal-best, too. The true freshman finished third in the event at 7.68.
 
Though they did not advance to the finals round, three Lakers ran personal-best times in the preliminary dash. Aaron Gholston led the way with a finish at 7.05. Long jumpers Peter Van Hulle and Luke Jelderks found themselves on the track with one PR apiece; Van Hulle finished at 7.07 and Jelderks crossed the finish line at 7.12.
 
Two new personal-bests in the 60m hurdles finals found their way into the top 10 record books. Joshua Hurt shaved 0.04 seconds off his previous best to finish at 7.95, hanging on to the number three spot at GVSU and ranking fourth in NCAA DII. Destini Dorkins wrote her name in the record book, crossing the finals finish line at 8.80 to rank number 10 all-time. Lance Riddle and Justus Reynolds ran personal-bests in the men's event, crossing the finish line at 8.30 (finals) and 8.58 (prelims) respectively. Freshman Mia Barnett recorded a PR of her own with a finish at 8.90.
 
In the 200m, Sam Coyle and Jacob Ferry both crossed the finish line at personal-record-breaking times. Coyle recorded a new PR at 21.80 and Ferry at 22.07.
 
Six Lakers found new personal-best finishes in the 400m. In heat one, Alaina Diaz and Keira Zorski finished first and third at 56.70 and 59.73, respectively. Heat three saw Emily Jokela run a personal-best 59.02, heat five had Grace Lorenz finish at a personal-best 1:00.92 and Aubrey Kopling rounded out the women's event with a 58.46 finish in heat 10. Demarcus Chapa was the only Laker on the men's side to notch a PR, finishing at a new indoor-best time of 49.64.
 
Owen Westerkamp and Colin MacGregor made their way into Grand Valley State's all-time top 10 indoor 800m records. Westerkamp ranks ninth with a personal-best 1:51.10 finish, putting him at #13 in NCAA DII. MacGregor's finish was just behind Westerkamp's, closing in at 1:51.13 to tie for 10th all-time and rank 14th in Division II. Though he did not move into the top 10, Tinsae Nelson finished at a personal-best 800m time of 1:54.29.
 
Through four heats of the 1 mile, 10 personal-best finishes were recorded. Madelyn Frens was the first to make her mark, shaving nearly five seconds off her previous PR with a new best finish at 5:03.70. Owen Patton was next, crossing the finish line at 4:18.07 – nearly 10 seconds faster than his previous best.
 
In the invite mile, Megan Postma, Allie Arnsman and Katrina Sandman raced new PRs in the women's heat with finishes at 4:53.41 (NCAA DII #11), 4:54.75 (NCAA DII #17) and 5:00.65 (NCAA DII #34), respectively.
 
Six men ran personal-best mile times in the invite. Tyler Heath was first of the group with a finish at 4:09.24 (NCAA DII #12), Noah Selvaraj was next at 4:09.78 (NCAA DII #17), Gavin Borger finished next at 4:10.04 (NCAA DII #18), Conor Somers followed at 4:11.18 and Sebastian Ramirez rounded out the PR list with a finish at 4:12.94.
 
Cara Newman and Maggie O'Malley finished second and fourth in the women's 3000m invite with personal-best times. Newman crossed the finish line at 9:47.77 and O'Malley finished at 10:00.90. In the next heat, Abby Young ran a personal-best 10:31.41 time.
 
Nearly every athlete in the men's 3000m invite ran a personal-best. Jacob Esser (8:14.51), Ian Fowler (8:17.20), Iain Forrest (8:23.69) and Dylan Esser (8:24.66) occupied spots one through four with personal-best finishes, while Sam Yarnelle (8:26.17) and Justin Hoffman (8:29.34) took sixth and 12th with PRs of their own.
 
Grand Valley State has their first meets on the road next week as they take on the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational (Louisville, Ky.) and Notre Dame Meyo Invite (South Bend, Ind.) on Friday, January 30 and Saturday, January 31. More information regarding who will compete for Grand Valley State, when and where will be available in the coming week via gvsulakers.com.