ALLENDALE, Mich. – Following the conclusion of the 2025-26 Indoor Track and Field season, three Lakers have been named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year.
Alaina Diaz and
Joshua Page have been named Indoor Track Athletes of the Year while
Erika Beistle was honored as this year's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
Diaz was named a track athlete of the year following a season filled with personal-best times. At her second meet of the season, the junior notched a new PR in the 200m at 24.16, shaving nearly one-quarter of a second off her previous best. She continued to drop her time, going from 24.16 to 24.01 to 23.88 and then 23.77 at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships to rank her second in program history. In her sole 400m appearance of the season, Diaz ran a personal-best at 56.70. She was a team-player, too; the Hudsonville native anchored the No. 7 ranked women's 4x400m relay to place ninth at the NCAA DII Championships and ran the 400m leg of the No. 4 ranked women's distance medley relay team.
Page was unsurprisingly named GLIAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year following a season of record-breaking performances at the conference and national levels. In late February, the Tiffin transfer ran a personal-best indoor 400m time of 45.77. The finish not only landed him the No. 1 spot in NCAA DII but granted him the No. 3 spot in NCAA Division II all-time, all-conditions. He rewrote the Laker's program and facility record in the event as he crossed the finish line. At the NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships, Page anchored the 5th place 4x400m relay, splitting the final leg in 45.32. He also ran the 400m leg of the men's DMR on day one, running a speedy 45.53 with a finishing time at 9:40.17. Although he did not compete in the 200m at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships, Page also notched a No. 29 time at 21.27 in the event.
Beistle was the final athlete to receive GLIAC honors for the 2026 indoor track and field season. In her final season in Laker uniform, Beistle broke several records on her way out. In late January, Beistle threw for a massive 17.78m (58-4) in shot put, not only shattering her personal, program and facility records, but the NCAA Division II record, as well. Less than one month later, she threw much further, recording an 18.26m (56-11) shot put to update the divisional record and add another mark to three of the top five NCAA DII throws of all time. As of March 17, the Rodney, Mich. native ranks 23rd in the world with her shot put mark.
