The Grand Valley State University track and field teams competed in their first outdoor home meet of the season from Friday, April 4 to Saturday, April 5. There were plenty of notable moments from the weekend, none bigger than school records being broken.
The meet kicked off with sprints and hurdles, where GVSU saw plenty of success. In the 110m, two men and three women for the Lakers qualified for finals. In the finals, senior Ethan Smith finished first with a time of 14.60. For the women, all three runners finished in the top five. Junior Destini Dorkins led the way by running a 14.35, beating her personal record.
In the 100m, GVSU had five men and three women competing in the finals. Graduate student Myles Rhodes led the way for the men with a first place finish. Rhodes ran a 10.48, which tied his personal record. Second and third place also belonged to the Lakers, thanks to freshmen Jacob Machiniak and Desmond Chapa, respectively.
Women’s first, second and third place all belonged to the Lakers. Freshman Claire Neumann ran a personal best, which placed her first. Sophomore Catherine Guckenberger placed second and senior Melia Williams rounded it out at third.
The 200m saw 14 total runners between the men and women representing GVSU. Not only were there many Lakers competing, numerous of them succeeded. For the men, seven of the nine runners placed top 10. For the women, all five athletes placed within the top 15.
GVSU concluded this portion with 400m and 400m hurdles. Between these two events, 12 total Lakers competed. Sophomore Dominik Balenda placed first in the 400m. The women’s first place finish came in the 400m hurdles by Dorkins.
The distance events saw 16 athletes representing GVSU, and four competitors finished first in their respective events. The long-jump events and junior Alaina Diaz headlined the day.
Not only did Diaz place first after her 6.19m score, but she is now the University’s record holder for the event. Diaz said her first jump was a personal best, which surprised her. However, she felt she had more in the tank, but the weather was not ideal. Her coaches gave her the option to go for it or be done for the day.
“My first jump of the day felt decent, but not amazing,” said Diaz.
Diaz broke down the exact moment by moment of her final, record breaking jump.
“I began my approach, (and) everything felt great (from the) takeoff (to the) flight,” said Diaz. “But, I (still) wasn’t sure. Then I heard, ‘that’s it.’ My jaw dropped (and) emotions hit me all at once.”
This just about wrapped up day one of the meet, as the last event were the throws. The throws saw no first-place finishes for GVSU, however there were still several impressive performances that resulted in personal records.
Day two may have had less events, but records were still shattered. Senior Erika Beistle had an all-time performance in discus. Beistle threw for 66.63m, which is not only a GVSU record, but is the fourth-best in Division II history and second-best among current athletes in the entire world. Graduate student Maggie Stevenson placed second in this event and sophomore Sophia Snellenberger placed seventh.
The men had two throwers in this event as well. Redshirt senior James Mackey Jr. placed second and graduate student Nathan Spitzley earned third.
Day two wrapped up with pole vault and javelin. Junior Will Gaston was the lone Laker in the javelin event, and placed number one on the podium. The pole vault competition included 12 total student-athletes from GVSU. This event rewarded plenty of podiums and personal bests, much like the rest of the meet for the Lakers.
“With this being our third weekend of competing in the outdoor season, we are simply trying to make steady progress and compete to the best of our ability,” said the teams’ head coach, Jerry Baltes.
GVSU’s track and field teams hope to break even more records when they head to Tampa, Florida for their next meet on Friday, April 11.
