Grand Valley State track and field scattered across the nation to compete from April 14-17. The Laker athletes attended five different meets in total.

The shortest journey of the weekend was to Oakland University. The sprinters, throwers and jumpers all made the trip.

The Lakers posted one automatic and 13 provisional qualifying marks en route to a second-place finish for both the men’s and women’s sides. The women recorded 139 total points, while the men scored 144.

“It was very successful across the board for us today,” said GVSU assistant coach Steve Jones. “The sprinters took a big step forward and put up some big numbers for us.”

There were two major highlights of the meet. The first was Chris Saikalis. His heave of 18.43 meters in the shot put earned him an automatic berth at the national meet in a few weeks.

“The throwers didn’t have the greatest of days in the circle as a group, but Chris had a monster throw well over 18 meters,” Jones said.

Angie Ritter provided the other highlight. The sophomore sprinter cruised to a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.60 seconds. The time ties the GVSU record set by Christy Tedrow in 2002.

“I keep tying these darn school records instead of breaking them,” Ritter said. “It’s a humbling feeling that I tied it, especially when I wasn’t even thinking about records, but it makes me just that much more hungry. I think the fact that I don’t run it every week is why I ran so well, actually. Running the same event every week you get burned out and I knew this was going to be one of my only chances to show up in the 400, so I gave it all I had.

“We’ve been working hard in practice with repeat 400s that coach Alan (Dunson) has been punishing us with, but they’re obviously working because I’ve never felt so strong.”

Ritter and Saikalis had great days, but other Lakers provided strong performances of their own.

The men took first, second and third in the high jump, each earning provisional marks. Hunter Weeks led the way with a height of 2.11 meters. Brandon Bean and Tor’i Brooks fell just short of Weeks’ mark, clearing the bar at 2.06 meters.

“It was nice to go one, two, three against solid D1 competition like Oakland, Central Michigan and Detroit and get the win,” Jones said. “It was more incredible for Hunter. He had a great jump and that should be able to get him into the national meet.”

Eskolunbe Puente and Jessica O’Connell finished first and second in the women’s 400 hurdles. Puente finished in 1:01.01 with O’Connell crossing the line just behind her at 1:01.39.

“(O’Connell) has been improving a lot lately and it really showed in her race today,” Jones said. “And then Esko ran a great race all around.”

On the men’s side of the 400 hurdles, TJ Burnett finished in second place with his time of 53.17.

Some of the distance runners went to Bucknell University to participate in the Bison Outdoor Classic. There, the Lakers combined for five provisional qualifying marks.

The 10,000-meter run was where the Lakers truly excelled. Kelly Haubert posted a time of 36:27.41, while Nate Orndorf led the men with his time of 29:38.89. Chad Cini and Sam Butler weren’t far behind. Cini finished in 30:15.88 and Butler’s time of 30:57.57 was also good for a provisional mark.

In the 5,000-meter run, Kevin Black finished in 14:36.02.

“Good things happened with Kevin Black in that 5K and then Orndorf rolled that 10K,” said GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes. “It was awesome. Cini ran a personal record and then a big personal record for Sam Butler. There were some good things to close the night.”

Another portion of the distance runners went out to California to compete in both the Mt. SAC Relays at Mount San Antonio College and the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific.

Between the two meets, the Lakers hit one automatic and 11 provisional qualifying marks.

Kendra Foley’s strong showing in the women’s 5,000-meter run gave GVSU its second automatic of the weekend. She finished the race in 16:17.24 to lead the way, but two of her teammates were not far behind. Gina Patterson clocked in at 16:25.49 and Amy Cymerman finished in 16:42.78.

On the men’s side of the 5,000, though unable to match Foley’s automatic mark, Zach Panning and Bryce Bradley posted strong provisional times. Panning finished in 14:08.85 and Bradley’s time of 14:00.89 was a fraction of a second off the GVSU record.

The Laker pole vaulters went to Centre College in Danville, Kentucky to take part in the Centre Twilight meet. Whitney Bice and Krista Nauseda both cleared the 3.65-meter bar to earn first and second place along with two provisional marks.

GVSU will compete at home for the first time in the 2016 outdoor season when they host the Al Owens Classic from April 22-23.

“We finally get to have an outdoor meet,” Jones said. “Hopefully we get some good weather to compete in.”