While the women never trailed, the men had to come from behind on the final day of the two-day event, but the GLIAC Championships in Findlay, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday belonged to the Grand Valley State University track and field teams.

The Laker women claimed their 13th-consecutive indoor GLIAC Championship and the men won their third-straight, and 12th in the last 13 years.

“Any time you can win a championship it is a good feeling,” said GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes, who was named GLIAC women’s Coach of the Year and co-GLIAC men’s Coach of the Year after the meet. “A lot of compliments need to go to our senior class for staying focused and staying after it. For everyone not taking championships for granted or becoming satisfied.”

The women, with 203.75 team points, greatly outdistanced second-place Ashland University, who finished with only 91 points. Meanwhile, the men, who trailed to Ashland after day one, finished with 150.50 points, 30.50 points ahead of the Eagles.

“We gave 110 percent,” said senior sprinter Xavier Parnell, who finished fourth in the finals of the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.97 seconds. “When somebody couldn’t get the job done, somebody else stepped up. As a team, we live and die for each other. We bleed black and blue.”

On day one, the women stood in first-place with a score of 66 points. The distance medley crew of seniors Betsy Graney, Chanelle Caldwell and Rachel Patterson, and freshman Jordan Chester paced them, setting a GLIAC Indoor Championship meet record with a time of 11 minutes, 35.63 seconds.

“This one was the most competitive GLIAC Championships because for the first time in every event there was another team that was right up there with us,” said Caldwell, who also finished second in the 800-meter run at 2:11.28. “Our teammates traveled four hours from Grand Valley that didn’t even run in the meet. We were the loudest cheering squad in the building and that was a great help.”

Other strong performances on day one came from the field events. Senior Jocelyn Kuksa cleared a height of 3.95 meters to claim first in the pole vault, and junior Liz Murphy won the weight throw with a toss of 21.19 meters.

Day two saw freshman Brittney Banister take home the crown in the 60-meter dash in 7.65 seconds, and Graney win the individual title in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:33.66.

The 4×400-meter relay team of Caldwell, Banister and sophomores Leiah Hess and Kalena Franklin, set a GLIAC Indoor Championship meet record of 3:50.27.

On the other side, the distance medley team also led the Laker men on the first day. Seniors Jeff Nordquist and Tyler Emmorey, along with sophomores Mohamed Mohamed and Jeremy Wilk won the event with a time of 10:03.65. However, going into the final day, they stood in second-place, only one point out.

“We thought if everyone was just solid and did their part, we would be alright,” Baltes said. “The trouble was two of our strong events were at the end of the meet so the whole day was real tight. Once we got to the 3,000-meter run and pole vault, we broke away.”

Responding to the needs of the team, sophomore Nathaniel Hammersmith led the men with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash at 22.38 seconds. Senior Anthony Witt also claimed first in the 3,000-meter run in 8:24.52. Other outstanding individual performances were seen across the board.

The men and women will now set their sights on Mankato, Minn., for the NCAA Division II Indoor track and field National Championships on March 9 and 10.

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