UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's and women's track and field teams continued their impressive early season performances as they hosted the 2012 Holiday Classic tonight (Dec. 7). The Cardinals set three provisional qualifying marks, while breaking one school record in the process.

Women

The Lady Cardinals were led by freshman Yanisha Edwards (Flint, Mich. / Northwestern HS) who broke the school record in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.92 in the prelims. Edwards also took first place in the 200 meter dash at :25.94. Fellow freshman Kimberly Balls (Bridgeport, Mich.) placed third in the 60 dash.

Senior Lauren Hill (Flat Rock, Mich.) recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the 3,000 meter run as she crossed the line at 10:07.50 to take first place in the distance race. Teha Ames (Shepherd, Mich.), Victoria Peet (Lapeer, Mich. / West HS) and Stephanie McMall (Auburn, Mich. / Bay City Western HS) finished third through fifth, respectively.

In field events, Emerald Joiner (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill HS) posted a provisional qualifying mark in the shot put competition with a throw of 13.64 meters. Joiner also took first place in the weight throw with a toss of 15.61 meters.

Other top finishers for the women's team included the 1600 Relay team of Ola Hendler (Lansing, Mich. / Grand Ledge HS), Diamond Taylor (Southfield, Mich.), Shavonne Roberson (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and Yanisha Edwards who finished with a time of 4:04.39 and in first place. Freshman Taylor Stepanski (Alpena, Mich.) took the top spot in the 800 meter run as she clocked in at 2:20.13. Sophomore high jumper Makenzie Frodle (Fraser, Mich.) finished second in the event as she cleared 1.65 meters.

Men

The Cardinal men were led by David Ray (Lansing, Mich. / Eastern HS) who had an impressive showing in the 60 meter hurdles with a provisional qualifying mark of 8.12 in the finals. D'Omar Boyden and Tyler Grob (Pinckney, Mich.) finished second and third respectively in the hurdles. 

Joseph Burelle (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Stevenson HS) recorded a first place finish in the men's mile with a time of 4:29.16, while Gareth Gose (Leslie, Mich.) took second at 4:30.07. Junior sprinter Lee Chiatalas (Fenton, Mich. / Linden HS) earned first place honors in the 200 meter dash crossing the line in 22.47 seconds. Chiatalas also finished runner-up in the 400 with a mark of :51.03. 

Other top finishers for the SVSU men included Raetron Bryant (Burton, Mich. / Atherton HS) who was victorious in the triple jump with a mark of 13.98 meters. Greg Baade (Warren, Mich. / De La Salle Collegiate HS) and Drew Meylan (Bay City, Mich. / Western HS) finished second and third, respectively, in the 3k run with times of 8:47.62 and 9:00.23. In the shot put competition, Nick Halabicky (Davison, Mich.) took second place with a distance of 14.07 meters, while Jarius Woolfork posted a mark of 13.79 meters to finish third.

The Cardinals will return to action after the holiday break at home for the Doug Hansen Open on Friday, January 11th.