MIDLAND, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's and women's track and field teams competed today (5/6) in the final day of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Championships.
The women's team was led by junior Elizabeth Willford (Gladwin, Mich./Gladwin HS) who placed tied for fourth place in the pole vault with a height of 3.57meters. Stacey Westphal (Corunna, Mich./Corunna HS) would also earn a top finish in the pole vault for the Cardinals clearing a height of 3.27meters placing her seventh overall. Teammate Megan Pittoors (Macomb, Mich./Dakota HS) finished sixth overall in the 10,000-meter run coming in with a final time of 37:30.82. Jessica Treiber (Sebewaing, Mich./Unionville-Sebewaing Area HS) and Samantha Cormier (Frankenmuth, Mich./Frankenmuth HS) earned fifth and seventh place finishes in the javelin throw with distances of 34.57meters and 33.76meters, respectively. With these top-eight finishes the women sit sixth overall in the team standings with a point total of 15.50.
On the final day the women's team was led by freshman Diamond Taylor (Southfield, Mich./Southfield HS) who placed fifth in the 400-meter run coming in with a final time of 58.56. Fellow freshman Lauren Little (Oak Park, Mich./Berkley HS) also placed fifth in the high jump with a leap of 1.61meters. Little also placed sixth in the triple jump competition with a distance of 10.47meters. Junior Alycia Wright earned a Division II national provisional qualifying time of 2:12.70 in the 800-meter run placing her sixth overall. The 4x100-meter relay team consisting of Elizabeth Sampson (Willis, Mich./Lincoln HS), Kelsey Bartoloni (Southgate, Mich./Southgate HS), Shavonne Roberson (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS), and Sarah Kawiecki (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) placed seventh overall coming in with a final time of 49.27. The meet was rounded out by the 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Kawiecki, Bartoloni, Taylor, and Wright that placed fourth overall with a final time of 3:54.14. The women's team placed eighth overall with a point total of 34.50.
The men's team was led by Tyler Grob (Pinckney, Mich.) as he finished the first day of competition in the lead of the decathlon with 3,503 points. Grob posted first-place finishes in the shot put (12.10m) and 100-meter dash (11.43), as well as a runner-up finish in the 400-meter dash (49.62). He would finish the decathlon competition in first place with a NCAA Division II provisionally qualifying point total of 6,683 while finishing first in the pole vault (4.60m) and shot put (12.10m). Seniors Cortland Seaver (Freeland, Mich./Freeland HS) and Steve Genther (Laingsburg, Mich./Laingsburg HS) earned top finishes in the 10,000-meter run with second and sixth place finishes crossing the line at 30:59.36 and 31:16.16, respectively. Frank Sanders (Detroit, Mich./Sterling Heights HS) placed fifth in the high jump competition with a leap of 2.00meters. Senior Brian Bott (Buckley, Mich./Kingsley HS) would score the last points of the day for the Cardinals in the hammer throw competition with a toss of 54.91meters placing him seventh overall. The Cardinals sit fourth overall with 27 points after these top-eight finishes.
The men's team was led the final day by sophomore David Ray (Lansing, Mich./Eastern High School) who finished second overall in the 110-meter hurdles with a final time of 14.69. Also earning a second place finish in the pole vault was Grob who vaulted a height of 4.61meters, while teammate Aaron Wilkins (Schoolcraft, Mich./Schoolcraft High School) earned a sixth place finish with a vault of 4.31meters. Senior Derek Stone earned a third place finish in the 1,500-meter run clocking in at 3:52.72. Grob was also the recipient of co-field athlete of the year as voted by the GLIAC coaches. Seaver would also earn another top-finish in the 5,000-meter run crossing the line at 15:00.58. Freshman James Walker (West Bloomfield, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS) placed seventh overall in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.41. Walker was also a member of the 4x100-meter relay team consisting of Eric Osley (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS), Raetron Bryant (Burton, Mich./Artherton HS), and Lee Chiatalas (Fenton, Mich./Linden HS) that came in with a final time of 42.60. The meet was concluded with a fifth place finish by the 4x400-meter relay team that consisted of Bryant, Chiatalas, Walker, and Grob that crossed the line at 3:18.44. The Cardinals finished the meet sixth overall with a total of 62 points.
The Cardinals conclude their regular season with the completion of the meet.