Men in 1st, Women in 3rd at GLIAC Championship
The University of Findlay men and women's indoor track and field teams completed day one of the 2015 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship on Feb. 28 in University Center, Mich. The men's team is leading the event with 37 points while the women are currently third with 27 points.
Senior Justin Welch and sophomore Alexander Zolotoglavyy led the men's team as they both picked up individual GLIAC titles in the weight throw and long jump, respectively.
Welch won the weight throw with a NCAA automatic qualifying heave of 72'01.75 while Zolotoglavyy was first in the long jump with a school record leap of 24'05.50. The mark was also good enough to set a field house record and was a provisional distance as well.
Junior Michael Bruce came away with a second place finish in the long jump with a provisional leap of 24'03.75 while senior Demorrio Leggett took eighth in the event at 22'05.00.
The Oilers distance medley relay team of freshman Matias Trampe-Kindt, senior Dillon Webster, senior Jacob Hayes and sophomore Derek Collins took home the silver with a provisional time of 10:06.10 while sophomore Ben Hahler provided a provisional toss of 58'06.75 in the weight throw, which was good for tenth place.
On the women's side, senior Pam Showman took second in the pentathlon with a provisional qualifying total of 3,672 points and also qualified for the finals in the 60-meter hurdles after crossing the finish line in 8.88. Her time was good enough for sixth in the preliminary round.
Junior Lydia Guagenti took third in the pentathlon with a provisional mark of 3,411 points while senior Taylor Ackerman was fourth in the long jump with a provisional leap of 18'03.75. Ackerman also teamed with juniors Maud Sanmiquel, Erica Bettac and Samantha Grippe to take eighth in the distance medley relay at 12:24.66.
The Oilers scored four provisional marks in the weight throw on day one as well and the group was led by sophomore Erica King, who placed fifth at 59'09.50. Senior Kendra Averesch took sixth (59'09.00), sophomore Liz Streacker was tenth (57'07.50) and senior Anna Knapski finished 16th (54'06.50) to round out the other Findlay throwers who reached provisional qualifying status.
The championship event will end tomorrow.