ALLENDALE, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's and women's track and field teams competed today (5/4) in the final day of the Outdoor Track and Field Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference (GLIAC) Championships. The men and women both earned ninth place finishes overall, the men scoring 21 points and the women scoring 47 points.
Day 2:
The women's team was led by senior Lauren Hill (Flat Rock, Mich./Flat Rock HS) who placed second overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase crossing the line at 11:06.78, setting a new school record and recording a NCAA DII National Provisional Qualifying time. Fellow senior Megan Pittoors(Macomb, Mich./Dakota HS) also saw success in the 10,000-meter run coming in with a final time of 37:21.97, good for a fourth place finish. Teammates Alycia Wright (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North HS) and Ashley Meyer (Shepherd, Mich./Shepherd HS) would run their way into the finals of both the 800-meter and 1,500-meter run. Wright earned third and fourth place finishes in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter while Meyer earned eighth place finishes. Also qualifying for the finals was sophomore Diamond Taylor (Southfield, Mich./Southfield HS) who placed third in the 400-meter run clocking in at 57.27.
The men's team was led by sophomore Frank Sanders (Detroit, Mich./Sterling Heights HS) who placed fifth in the high jump with a NCAA DII National Provisional Qualifying mark of 2.06 meters. Also placing fifth for the Cardinals was senior Jon Wetters (Essexville, Mich./Garber HS) who competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and crossed the line at 9:44.08. Fellow senior Brian Bott (Buckley, Mich./Kingsley HS) would also earn a seventh place finish in the hammer throw for Saginaw Valley with a toss of 55.30 meters. Teammate Drew Meylan (Bay City, Mich./Bay City Western HS) would place ninth in the prelims of the 800-meter run coming in with a final time of 1:53.42. Meylan will compete in the finals of the 800-meter run during day three of the GLIAC Championships.
Day 3:
The women were led by sophomore Diamond Taylor who competed in the finals of the open 400-meter run and clocked in at a NCAA DII National Provisional Qualifying time of 55.68. Teammate Alycia Wright also earned NCAA DII National Provisional Qualifying times in both the 800 and 1,500-meter run crossing the line at 2:10.95 and 4:30.43, good for third and second place finishes. Also competing in the 800 and 1,500-meter run was Ashley Meyer who placed eighth and fourth coming in at 2:15.16 and 4:35.10, respectively. Freshman Emily Short (Tawas, Mich./Tawas Area HS) would compete in the 5,000-meter run for the Cardinals and placed sixth overall timing in at 17:44.46. Rounding out the meet for Saginaw Valley was the 4x400-meter relay team that placed fourth overall coming in at 3:57.65 and consisted of Taylor, Wright, Meyer and Shavonne Roberson (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS).
The men were led by freshman Drew Meylan who placed fifth in the 800-meter run and timed in at 1:53.82. The 4x100-meter relay team consisting of Ricky Griffin (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS), David Foster (Port Huron, Mich./Port Huron HS), Lee Chiatalas (Fenton, Mich./Linden HS) and Eric Osley (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS) earned a sixth place finish and clocked in at 42.37. Distance runner Joseph Burelle (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson HS) would earn a top-finish for the Cardinals coming in eighth with a time of 15:13.50. The 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Foster, Chiatalas, Travis Toye (Davison, Mich./Davison HS) and Josh Arnold (Clio, Mich./Clio HS) would round out the meet for Saginaw Valley earning a sixth place finish coming in at 3:17.34.
The Cardinals will be back in action again Friday (5/11) when they compete in a last chance meet where individual athletes will look to qualify for the NCAA DII National Championships.