FINDLAY, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University men's and women's track and field teams competed today (2/25) in the Indoor Track and Field GLIAC Championships. The men placed ninth overall and the women placed fifth.
The men's team was led on day one by Tyler Grob (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney HS) who competed in day one of the heptathlon and sits fourth overall with 2,758 total points after four events. Grob earned a first place in the shot put with a toss of 12.70 meters, third in the 60-meter dash crossing the line at 7.37, fifth in the long jump with a distance of 6.40 meters, and sixth in the high jump clearing a height of 1.68 meters. Earning a top-finish in the long jump was sophomore Frank Sanders(Detroit, Mich./Sterling Heights HS) who jumped a distance of 6.59 meters, good for an eighth place finish. Placing sixth in the distance medley relay was the team of Drew Meylan (Bay City, Mich./Bay City Western HS), Josh Arnold (Clio, Mich./Clio HS), Travis Toye (Davison, Mich./Davison HS), and Joseph Burelle (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson HS) who clocked in at 10:32.32. Junior Jon Wetters (Essexville, Mich./Garber HS) placed 11th in the 5,000-meter run crossing the line at 15:32.44 while teammate Brian Bott (Buckley, Mich./Kingsley HS) placed 12th in the weight throw with a toss of 16.20 meters.
On day two of the Indoor GLIAC Championships the Cardinals were led by junior Tyler Grob who placed first in the heptathlon competition totaling 5,092 points, just 20 points shy of setting a new school record. Grob earned a first place in the pole vault clearing a height of 4.65 meters and third place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles and 1,000-meter run recording marks of 8.90 and 2:50.38, respectively. Grob would also compete in the open pole vault competition and place fifth overall clearing a bar of 4.64 meters. Earning a fourth place finish in the 800-meter run was freshman Drew Meylan who clocked in at 1:56.10 while teammate Travis Toye finished right behind him coming in at 1:56.81, good for an eighth place finish. Sophomore Frank Sanders would earn a sixth place finish in the high jump competition clearing a height of 1.99 meters. The meet was rounded out by the 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Lee Chiatalas (Fenton, Mich./Linden HS), David Foster (Port Huron, Mich./Port Huron HS), Raetron Bryant (Burton, Mich./Artherton HS), and James Walker (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) who placed seventh overall crossing the line at 3:24.81.
The Lady Cardinals were led on day one by distance runners Megan Pittoors (Macomb, Mich./Dakota HS) and Lauren Hill (Flat Rock, Mich./Flat Rock HS) who competed in the 5,000-meter run placing second and third overall clocking in at 17:38.28 and 17:41.69, respectively. Placing fourth in the distance medley relay was the team of Emily Short (Tawas, Mich./Tawas Area HS), Diamond Taylor (Southfield, Mich./Southfield HS), Alycia Wright (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North HS), and Ashley Meyer (Shepherd, Mich./Shepherd HS) who crossed the line at a NCAA DII National provisional qualifying time of 11:52.48. Taylor would also place fourth in the prelims of the 400-meter run coming in with a final time of 58.70. Senior Elizabeth Willford (Gladwin, Mich./Gladwin HS) earned a fifth place finish in the pole vault competition clearing a NCAA DII National provisional qualifying mark of 3.65 meters.
On day two of the Indoor GLIAC Championships the women's team was led by junior Ashley Meyer who placed second in the mile clocking in at a NCAA DII National provisional qualifying time of 5:00.82. Teammate Alycia Wright also had a standout performance in the 800-meter run timing in at a NCAA DII National provisional qualifying time of 2:11.29, just .04 seconds short of a school record, which was good for a third place finish. Sophomore Diamond Taylor also earned a third place finish in the finals of the 400-meter run crossing the line at 57.85, just .05 seconds short of a NCAA DII National provisional qualifying time. Taylor and Wright would join teammates Sarah Kawiecki (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) and Shavonne Roberson(Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS) in the 4x400-meter relay, earning a fifth place finish with a final time of 4:02.24. Emily Short and Jean Hollerbach (Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich./Grosse Pointe South HS) would compete in the 3,000-meter run and place fifth and eighth overall clocking in at 10:11.65 and 10:21.71, respectively. Freshman high jumper Makenzie Frodle (Fraser, Mich./Fraser HS) would earn a sixth place finish in the high jump competition clearing a bar of 1.64 meters.
With the conclusion of the meet most of the Cardinals look to begin training for the outdoor season while a select few athletes continue training for the NCAA DII Indoor National Championships held on Friday (3/9) and Saturday (3/10) in Mankato, MN.