Several Oilers Shine at GLIAC Championships
On Saturday, March 1st, the University of Findlay men's and women's indoor track and field teams took their talents to Hillsdale, Michigan for Day 1 of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships held at the Chargers' Margot V. Biermann Center.
Finals:
Women's weight throw played host to a talented field in which half of the field, including three Oiler throwers, met the NCAA provisional mark of 52'5.92 ft. Findlay's top finisher was freshman Erica King. Her throw of 55'08.25 ft. earned her an 11th place finish. Right behind her in 12th was Findlay junior Kendra Averesch who tossed the 20lb weight a distance of 55'03.75 ft. The final Oiler to meet the provisional mark was sophomore Anna Knapski who took 16th with a throw 53'03.50 ft. The other Findlay thrower in the event was freshman Liz Streaker who wasn't far off the pace as her best throw measured 49'05.00 ft.
In the women's pentathlon, all of the Oiler participants met the provisional mark set by the NCAA. Junior Pam Showman led the way for Findlay and took second place with a score of 3664. Her best finishes came in the 800 meter run where she took second with a 2:24.93 and in the shot put where she also finished second with a throw of 35'08.50 ft. Sophomore Lydia Guagenti, who won the high jump portion of the event with an NCAA provisional qualifying jump of 5'06.50 ft., earned fifthoverall with a score of 3321. Sophomore Maud Sanmiquel finished in sixth place with a score of 3268. The 800 was her most successful event as she took first place with a time of 2:23.93.
The Oilers met another NCAA provisional in the women's distance medley relay. This race is comprised of four legs. These distances are 1200m, 400m, 800m, and a mile. Findlay's team of sophomore Erica Bettac, junior Kirsten Gaerke, sophomore Samantha Grippe, and senior Alexa Stults raced to a time of 12:29.42, good enough for eighth place. Eight of the ten participating teams in this event met the NCAA provisional time.
Freshman Lilia Malyarova had a solid showing in the women's long jump where her jump of 17'09.75 earned her a fifth place finish.
There were two NCAA automatic qualifiers in the men's 35 lb weight throw. One of those was Oiler junior Justin Welch. He took second place in the event with a throw of 70'07.25 ft. Also in the event for Findlay was sophomore Parker Schroeder and senior Marcus Vicars.
In men's long jump, freshman Alexander Zolotoglavyy proved he was the best in the conference as he out jumped the field to a distance of 23'11.75 ft. This distance met the NCAA provisional mark. Also meeting that mark was junior Demorrio Leggett who took seventh place with a jump of 23'03.25 ft. Freshman Derek Collins also participated in the event for the Oilers.
Finaly's men's distance medley relay team again proved their strength as they took third place in the event and broke their own school record in the event. The combination of junior Jacob Hayes, sophomore Kyle Smithey, junior Dillon Webster, and senior Justin Eilerman finished with a time of 10:01.54, good enough to meet the provisional mark set by the NCAA.
Events to conclude on Day 2:
Sanmiquel also participated in the women's 60 meter hurdler prelims and qualified for the finals with a time of 8.91 seconds. She will enter the finals as the six seed. Taking the final qualifying spot was Showman who finished with a time of 9.00. The event will run its final tomorrow at 1:45pm.
A couple Oiler women proved their strength in the women's 400 meter dash prelims as freshman Adrianna Powell-Lawrence and junior Shelby Stump each won their respective heats and qualified for the finals. Powell-Lawrence finished with the best time of the day, an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 57.73. Stump had the second fastest time of the day as she finished with a time of 58.09. The finals of this race will be run tomorrow at 2:00pm.
Powell-Lawrence and Stump will also be participating in the women's 200 meter dash tomorrow as they both qualified for the finals with their preliminary times of 25.55 and 25.75, respectively. Powell-Lawrence will be seeded fifth and Stump will be seeded eighth for the race slated to begin at 2:50pm.
In men's heptathlon, four events were completed on Day 1 with the remaining events to take place tomorrow on Day 2. For Findlay, junior Jacob Miller is the only participant. His best finish of the day came in the 60 meter dash where he took seventh place with a time of 7.55 seconds. His first event will begin tomorrow at 9:00am with the running of the 60 meter hurdles.
Make sure to follow along tomorrow, March 2nd, as the Oilers compete on Day 2 of the GLIAC Championships.
Click here for a complete schedule of tomorrows events.
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