After a week of clear skies, sunshine and 70-degree weather, the Grand Valley State University track team officially rang in the outdoor season in wind, rain and cold temperatures.

GVSU traveled to Aquinas College Saturday, where they competed in the unscored Grand Rapids Open.

“It was a miserable day out there with the wind and the rain and the weather, so it was sort of about surviving the day and just being tough,” said GVSU head coach Jerry Baltes. “We just wanted get through the day and hopefully come out of it healthy and build some character.”

GVSU definitely built some character in taking home 15 total first-place finishes. The women’s team notched eight golds – sophomores Katelyn Pittman and Erin Eggleston finished first and second in the 100-meter hurdles, respectively, while sophomore Chanelle Caldwell took first place in the 800-meter run.

In the high jump, senior Maegan Doyen won with a jump of 5-feet 3-inches and freshman Jennifer Fuller took second by jumping 4-11.

The GVSU women also won the 3,000-meter steeplechase, 1,500-meter run, 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles and hammer throw.

The men took home seven first-place honors that included a one-two finish in the 110-meter hurdles by sophomore Ryan Brown and senior Joey Latz. GVSU also took the top three spots in the discus (freshman Donny Stiffler, senior Mitch Bosch and sophomore Matt Armstrong, respectively).

Other wins for the men included the 3,000-meter steeplechase, 1,500-meter run, 800-meter run, high jump and long jump.

The team enjoyed mild weather all spring, so Saturday’s meet was a stark contrast. Senior hurdler Kirsten Nozime, however, said she thought the team thrived despite the poor conditions.

“Overall we stepped up, sucked it up and went though the weather because it was probably one of the worst meets I’ve ever been to in terms of the temperature, rain and wind,” she said. “Everyone did what they had to do just to get it out of the way, and it wasn’t like we packed up and went home. It showed a little bit of our toughness.”

Junior Tyler Emmory, who won the steeplechase and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Nationals, was glad to get the first meet out of the way.

This meet was the first time all season the entire team competed together, and the first time that most of the team had seen any competitive action since the NCAA Indoor Nationals back in early March.

“It was a good rust-buster day,” he said. “It wasn’t good weather, so the most important part was getting out there and doing what we could. It wasn’t a fun one to run because of the rain, but we still had our job to do.”

Not only did the rain have an impact on the athletes competing on the track but also coaches and fans watching the events.

“We really didn’t see the team all out there at once because a lot of them were huddled in corners trying to stay warm,” Baltes said. “That’s the beauty of outdoors; dealing with the climate and the weather, especially in Michigan. We’ll get better weather and with that will come better results.”

GVSU will head to Miami University (Ohio) and Ferris State University on April 9 and 10. The field event athletes will go to Miami while the rest of the team heads to Ferris State to compete.

“Our thought process is that our field events are probably a little bit more ready to hit qualifying marks, so we are trying to get them a little better climate, where as our track athletes are still progressing fitness and training-wise, so we will stay close to home,” Baltes said. “In the meantime, we will keep training and progressing, trying to get better each day.”

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