Both the men’s and women’s track teams earned third overall at the Grand Valley Winter Classic this past weekend, placing among nationally acclaimed athletes. The two teams that placed before them, Lincoln University and Grand Valley University, are top-ranked teams.
Head men’s coach Jeff Forino said the team did very well, and several athletes broke their personal bests.
With two young groups and predominantly underclassmen both this year and anticipated for next season, the coaches were pleased with this week’s performance, and look forward to the upcoming home meet. While at Grand Valley, they achieved some of their best performances of the season.
“It’s really the cliché but it’s the little things that a young team needs to learn, like making sure that at every practice they get the most out of themselves that they can,” head women’s coach Andrew Towne said. “The nice thing I felt was that we had a lot of good individual performances from every event area and this was the first time we’ve shown that this year.”
For the women’s team, sophomores Emily Oren and Kristina Galat took first and second place in the 3000-meter, freshman Allison Duber placed third in the 400 meter, and several other Chargers placed in the top 10 positions in other events. Oren and Galat beat upperclassmen All-Americans from Grand Valley.
“The two that stood out most were Kristina Galat and Emily Oren. They ran the second and third fastest 3000-meter in school history,” Towne said. “And they’re ranked 8th and 9th in the country right now. What’s really neat about their performances is it really embodied what we’ve talked about from day one.”
Senior Amber Mueller and junior Heather Lantis took second and third respectively in the shot put, senior Grace Leutheuser and freshman Dana Newell placed third and fourth in the weight throw, and Newell also took fourth in the high jump. In the pole vault, freshman Alex Whitford placed third, receiving NCAA provisional marks with her score, and freshmen Madison Estell and Jordan Ahlers took fourth and sixth in the triple jump.
“The team did really well and there were lots of highlights in the meet,” Oren said. “Alex Whitford did really well in the pole vault, set a new personal record, I believe, and bettered her national provisional mark. (Sophomore) Corrinne Zehner ran a really tough meet with a lot of events and she handled it really well. Allison also showed up in the 400 with her seasonal best which was really cool to see.”
The men’s team encountered equal success. Senior Maurice Jones placed first in the 400 meter and received an NCAA provisional mark. Junior Damian Matthews and sophomore Alexander Mexicotte finished fourth and fifth in the 60 meter dash, and junior Joshua Mirth took second in the 3000-meter. In the hurdles, seniors Matthew Raffin and Elliot Murphy placed first and second, both receiving NCAA provisional marks and marking Murphy’s lifetime best. The 4×400 meter relay team of junior Jared Van Dyke, Raffin, Murphy, and freshman Ty Etchemendy took second.
“For this meet the focus was to beat as many competitors as possible and not to worry so much about performance and personal best, but to place as a team,” Forino said. “The team did this really well, and we ended up within two to three points of Lincoln, nearly getting second. This is really great for us.”
The teams’ next meet is Feb. 7-8 and will be hosted by the Chargers in their home arena. It is a two-day event that will see 900-plus competitors, making it the largest indoor meet the team has hosted.
Forino said the team is excited to host the meet, and although the sheer number of participants will require a steep learning curve, he and coach Towne are up for the logistical challenge.
“The next meet is this weekend at home so it should be fun to be able to compete in the place that we always practice,” Oren said. “Everybody is looking forward to it and is looking to better upon this past weekends performances.”
