After over a month off from competition, Grand Valley State University’s track and field teams hosted the annual Bob Eubanks Open at the Kelly Family Sports Center on Saturday, Jan. 18. Although this was only the Lakers’ second competition of the season, multiple personal records were achieved and a few athletes were able to place their name in the University’s records.
Prior to the meet, the teams were able to practice for two weeks, which played a crucial role in their performance, according to head coach Jerry Baltes.
“We’ve had a great two weeks of practice (before) getting back into it,” said Baltes. “We’re looking to hopefully pick up (from) where we left off in December, see where we’re at and start building some momentum from week to week.”
Starting the open were weight throws and shot put. In these events, GVSU took first in women’s weight throw and both men’s and women’s shot put. Taking first in the men’s category was redshirt senior Myles Kerner with a throw of 18.05m. Although Kerner is a three-time Division II national champion in shot put, he still looks to improve his performance upon every competition.
“Since I only have an indoor season left in my eligibility, my goals are more focused on this season than years prior,” said Kerner. “Short term, I am always looking to improve on my previous meet’s distance and build consistency week by week. Long term, I want to improve my personal best up at least once a season. Specifically, I feel the NCAA DII indoor shot record has been a good goal to shoot for.”
The Lakers proceeded to take first place in both men’s and women’s long jump, as well as men’s triple jump, high jump and pole vault. In the high jump, junior Marcus Gelpi managed to leap 2.21m for a personal record. Gelpi wasn’t alone at the top of the leaderboard, with four other Lakers placing in the top six.
“There’s strength in numbers,” said Baltes. “I’ve always said there’s two ways to be good to great in track and field. One is to have exceptional top-end talent (that allows you to) perform at a high level. The other piece of that is to have depth.”
Moving into the running events, freshman Cara Newman took gold in the women’s one mile with a 4.57.30 finish. In the 60m hurdles, sophomore Joshua Hurt took first place with a time of 8.16. While taking second in the 60m sprints, senior Myles Rhodes hit his personal record with a time of 6.83. Considering this, Rhodes placed fourth in GVSU’s all-time record. Eventually, Rhodes went on to achieve a gold medal in the men’s 200m with a time of 21.60.
Following the final event’s conclusion, GVSU honored their NCAA championship-winning 1600m and 3000m relay teams from the previous season.
As the teams’ competitions begin to become weekly, there will be less practice time for each athlete.
“I am always looking to improve, and I hate to waste opportunities to get better,” said Kerner. “I am looking to improve from a technical standpoint, no matter the level of intensity.”
Baltes emphasized that the teams’ coaching staff feels confident in their leadership moving forward. He also vocalized the importance of upperclassmen leadership.
“Whether it’s on the technical side of things or just the encouragement and mental side of things, we rely on our upperclassmen to be great leaders and role models who set the tone from a work-ethic standpoint, a mentality and (an) attitude standpoint.”
The Lakers will be back in the Kelly Family Sports Center for the Bill Clinger Classic on Friday, Jan. 24.
