Ashland men win NCAA title, GVSU women place second

Ashland men win NCAA title, GVSU women place second

PITTSBURGH, Kan. – The Ashland men’s track and field team, previously a three-time national runner-up, claimed its first NCAA Division II Indoor Championship on Saturday at Pittsburgh State by edging perennial powerhouse Adams State by one point.

The Eagles, led by Myles Pringle and dominance in the weight throw, won the men’s team title with 38 points, while Adams State followed with 37. Grand Valley State was fourth with 33.25 points, and Northwood tied for 13th with 20. Ferris State was 57th.

The Ashland men’s team placed second at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2017, ’13 and ’11.

The GVSU women’s team placed second with 64 points. Adams State totaled 87 points to win the women’s NCAA title. Ashland was 11th with 16 points, Saginaw Valley State 28th and Northern Michigan 44th.

Pringle won the men’s 400-meter dash in a meet record time of :45.67 and was part of the Eagles’ 4x4 relay, which finished fifth in 3:10.80. Channing Phillips, Paul Murray and Brayden Chaney were also part of the Eagles’ relay.

 Myles Pringle

Several Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference athletes posted second-place finishes Saturday. For the men, it was Grand Valley’s Dennis Mbuta in the 800-meter run (1:49.65) and Northwood’s Mason Phillips in the 200-meter dash (:21.06). For the women, it was Grand Valley’s Rachael Walters in the 800-meter run (2:05.09) and Ashland’s Lindsay Baker in the shot put (15.90 meters/52-2). GVSU teammates Ellie Kimes and Carly Livingston tied for second in the pole vault by clearing 3.93 meters (12-10 ¾).

GLIAC representatives with third-place NCAA finishes were Northwood’s Rami Gharsalli in the men’s 60-meter hurdles (7.94) and Phillips in the men’s 60-meter dash (6.72), GVSU’s Allie Ludge in the women’s mile (4:53) and Zach Panning in the men’s 3,000-meter run (8:07.46), and Saginaw Valley State’s Lauren Huebner in the women’s pentathlon (3,823). The GVSU women’s 4x4 relay team of Jessica Eby, Sarah Beulla, Heather Johnson and Walters was also third in 3:40.59.

Ludge also placed fifth in the women’s 3,000-meter run (9:32.61). GVSU teammate Gina Patterson was sixth (9:33.20).

Ashland’s Ellie Jindra took sixth in the women’s high jump (1.74 meters/5-8 ½). GVSU’s Jordan Johnson was eighth in the men’s 60-meter dash (6.87). The GVSU men’s 4x4 relay team of Daniel Walker, Thomas Capers, Jaylen Hasen and Andrew McFarland placed sixth in 3:10.81.

Complete Results