Grand Valley State track and field star Darien Thornton stayed at school over winter break. It seems to have paid off.

The senior recorded an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying mark and set a new GVSU record in the men’s weight throw during Friday’s Bob Eubanks Open at GVSU’s Kelly Family Sports Center, an event in which both the GVSU men and women finished third.

“The motivation I use is just my love for this sport,” he said. “I love training every day. Staying around is probably the most beneficial thing you can do so you can continue to get great training in the same atmosphere you will train in all year.”

Thornton wasn’t the only bright spot for GVSU. The Lakers set a total of 12 NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks — seven by the men and five by the women.

The automatic qualifiers are invited to the NCAA finals regardless. Provisional qualifiers are the next ones in line if all automatic spots aren’t filled by the end of the season. Automatic qualification is the ultimate goal, but earning a provisional mark is still a feat to be applauded.

“It’s early season, it’s the first meet back, and our kids are tired so you never know what you’re going to get,” said GVSU men’s and women’s head coach, Jerry Baltes. “The women’s 4×400 got an NCAA mark, so that was good to see.”

Skylar Dantzler, Eskolunbe Puente-Matanzas, Jessica O’Connell and Angie Ritter partnered to run a 3:50.42 in the relay, managing to edge EMU by just over a second. The relay time cleared the provisional qualifying mark by almost two-and-a-half seconds.

“We’re definitely striving for a better time,” Ritter said. “The time we ran qualifies us but won’t be good enough to be top 14. Every meet we’re looking to run faster. Hopefully it’ll be a trend as the season goes on. By fine-tuning our handoffs, we can cut off seconds, and then cut down our time.”

GVSU’s throwers put up big numbers on both the men’s and women’s sides. Dajsha Avery and Kaylyn Hill finished third and fourth in the women’s shot put. Each posted a provisional qualifying mark with throws of 13.64 and 13.47 meters, respectively.

Hill appeared again in the weight throw and finished sixth with a 16.47-meter toss, which met another provisional mark. Kyra Hull got a qualifying mark as well with her second-place throw of 17.53 meters.

On the men’s side, Chris Saikalis stole the show in the shot put with a first-place distance of 18.06 meters. Thornton finished fourth at 17 meters. Both distances were enough to meet the provisional mark.

Thornton earned his GVSU record and automatic qualifying mark in the weight throw with a toss of 21.83 meters. Mike Moon and Blake Donson finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Both achieved NCAA provisional marks. Moon’s throw went 19.18 meters and Donson’s was right behind at 19.13 meters.

Field events continued to be a major production area for the men as Tor’i Brooks earned a second-place finish and a provisional height in the high jump with a leap of 2.11 meters. In the long jump, Tyler Pavliga leapt 7.03 meters to finish first and earn his own provisional mark.

Defending national champion Sean Wells cruised to victory in the 60-meter hurdles in 7.98 seconds, managing to meet the event’s provisional mark in the process.

Eastern Michigan’s women won the event with 135.5 points. Michigan State won for the men with 84.5 points.

“Now we really just have to work on doing the little things well,” Baltes said. “Eating, sleeping, hydrating, rest, recovery and not staying up all night. Just taking care of our bodies.”

GVSU will push for even more qualifying marks as they host the GVSU Open at the Kelly Family Sports Center on Jan. 22.