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Findlay Off to Fast Start at G-MAC Indoor Championship
Posted: Feb 24, 2023

Findlay Off to Fast Start at G-MAC Indoor Championship

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Results

Ashland, Ohio – The University of Findlay men's and women's track and field teams held their first day of competition at the 2023 Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Track and Field Championships being held on Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25. The defending conference champions are both in first through one day as the men hold a commanding lead, scoring 82 points, and the women lead with 43 points scored. Findlay's men are 43 points clear of Walsh University, which currently sits in second, while the women lead Cedarville University by just six points and Tiffin University by nine.

Quotes from Coach Jared Krout

The message to the team coming in was to just put our best effort forward. We aren't focused at all on what happened last year and just want to control what is in front of us.

After the first day, we saw a lot of energy from our team and athletes competing at a very high level from the beginning. Getting off to a fast start has helped us build some momentum going forward and into day two.

Men

  • The performance of the day for the Oilers came in men's pole vault where the Orange and Black asserted their dominance in the event, picking up big points in the process. Findlay athletes finished in the top four spots in that event, led by senior Gabe Makin who outlasted the field, clearing a height of 5.27m (17'3.50"), well over the provisional mark in the event. That effort broke the school record in pole vault, a record that had stood since 2011 when Shane Shockey cleared 17'3.00".
    • Sophomore Jacob Michael finished runner-up and freshman Conner Douglass took third as both cleared a height of 4.80m (15'9"), with Michael doing so in less attempts. Taking fourth was sophomore Alex Mutchler who also cleared 4.80m, but needed his third and final attempt to do so.
  • Last year's G-MAC Freshman of the Year and indoor long jump champion Chris Campbell made it back-to-back in the event as he traveled 7.37m (24'2.25") on his first attempt.
    • Right behind was junior Eliot Cummings who was runner-up with a jump of 7.35m (25'1.25"). Sophomore Shakur Payton took fourth with a jump of 7.23m (23'8.75"), giving Findlay a very strong showing in the event.
  • Findlay's distance medley relay team, which earlier this year broke a nine-year old school record, went event faster on Friday to earn the G-MAC title in the event. Jordan Foster, Xavier Marable, Simon Derstine, and Nick DeHaven teamed up for a time of 9:49.66 which is 17th in DII this season.
  • Sophomore Noah Fisher, last year's indoor and outdoor 5,000m G-MAC Champion, took runner-up in that event this year as he completed the 3.1-mile race in a time of 14:17.69. While that time was not good enough to win this year, it still is a college-best for Fisher, meets the NCAA provisional mark and sets a new Findlay record.
  • Taking 4th and 5th in the high jump were Shakur Payton and Cameron Stine who each cleared a height of 2.00m (6'6.75").
  • Findlay got a top spot in the 200-meter dash prelims as junior Josh Verhoff, the 2021 200m indoor champion, was the fastest on Friday with a time of 21.24 seconds, a new personal-best and ninth-best time in Division II this season. That time also sets a new program record, breaking Kendall Stevens' record of 21.34 which was set in 2005.
  • Qualifying in the top spot in the 400m dash is senior Xavier Marable who was the fastest in the prelims with a time of 47.26.

Women

  • Last season, junior Simone Green burst onto the scene en route to earning G-MAC Athlete of the Meet during the indoor championship. On Friday, she continued to stand out, winning her second-consecutive G-MAC Indoor long jump title as her first attempt saw her fly a distance of 5.75m (18'10.5), good for the NCAA provisional mark.
  • The back-to-back G-MAC Champ in the 5000m run, junior Gabrielle Lawrence, was caught up in a thrilling race as she led through 4700m before being overtaken on the final lap. Regardless, she still earned a podium finish in the race again this year, taking third with a time of 17:00.92. Her time is a personal-best, breaks her own school record, and meets the NCAA provisional in the event.
    • In that same event, sophomore Maya Hamsher made a pass on her final lap to move into fifth with a time of 17:46.95, a new personal-best.
  • One of the more excited finishes of the first day of competition came in the distance medley relay where Findlay's team of Ava Beam, Kylie Ray, Hayley Robinett, and Reilly Cozette came up less than a second short of the title, taking runner-up with a time of 11:46.80. That time, while it did not win, broke a school record that had stood since 2006, and broke it by more than eight seconds.
  • Taking third in the weight throw was junior Paige Emnett who earned a spot on the podium with her third attempt which measured 17.93m (58'10"), meeting the NCAA provisional.
  • Sophomores Kassandra Stine and Maddie Alexander both took part in the heptathlon. The duo finished in fifth and sixth, respectively, with 3171 points and 3087 points. Stine's top event was a second-place finish in the high jump (1.56m), while Alexander's top event was a first-place finish in the 60m hurdles (9.31).
  • Flying around the track in the 200m dash prelims was sophomore Jordan Taylor who met the NCAA provisional with a career-best time of 24.82. She finished less than a half-second behind the event winner from Walsh.