Quick Hits 3/21

Holly Bihlman, Sports Editor

GV track and field starts outdoor season 

Coming off of the men’s winning NCAA Indoor Championship and the women’s runner-up finish, the Lakers got right back to work. This past weekend both teams travelled to Oxford, Ohio to compete in the Blizzard Buster on March 18 where several Lakers came out with provisional marks.

Junior Jacob Urban and sophomore Bryce Reynolds made the first provisional marks with Urban winning first in the hammer throw landing at 58.64m, followed by Reynolds in second with 57.47m. Junior Bobby Maxwell also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Nationals in the javelin throw with a distance of 59.85m. Sophomore Nathan Spitzley threw a provisional discus with a 52.28m along with junior Elizabeth Pyles at 47.43m.

While these were the only qualifiers of the meet from GVSU, several other Lakers finished with first place wins. In the men’s triple jump, junior Mac Mitchell won with a distance of 13.69m and senior Jaylen Kynes won the men’s 200 with a time of 22.13.

Next up for the Lakers, the teams will be traveling to Austin, Texas to compete in the Texas Relays from March 23-26.

 

GV Softball pitcher Hannah Beatus throws second no-hitter of the season

The Grand Valley State University (13-1) softball team has continued their success with the help of senior pitcher Hannah Beatus’ second no-hitter game this season. The Lakers played at Tiffin University (11-13) on March 20, ending both of the days’ games 8-0. This will be Beatus’ fourth career no-hitter, and she’s still got the rest of this season to try for more.

During the first game, the Lakers scored two points in the second inning and three in the fourth and fifth innings to shut out the Dragons. In the second game, the Lakers scored five points in the first, one in the second and a final two in the seventh to do it again.

This week, the Lakers’ games in Ashland were postponed on March 21, so the team will begin GLIAC play on March 26 against Parkside as GVSU hosts the next two weekends of games.

 

GV Esports club competes in Laker-Bronco Classic

This past weekend, the GVSU Esports club travelled to Western Michigan University on March 19 for the first of their two-day Laker-Bronco Classic.

The Lakers started out strong with a win in Valorant 2-0 for the first game followed by a 0-2 loss in Rainbow 6 Siege to tie the score 1-1 to end day one. At the Laker Esports Center on March 20, GVSU started off with a loss in Overwatch 3-0 but came back in Rocket League with a 4-0 win, once again tying the match 2-2.

Bringing the five-game competition to a close, the Lakers and the Broncos split the last match in the first two rounds of their best-of-three League of Legends finale, with the Lakers coming out with the win at the end, 2-1.