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BAY CITY, Mich. - Ashland University's junior Steph Tinney (Norwalk, Ohio/Western Reserve) and sophomore Cheryl Bourne (Lansing, Mich.) were named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) women's indoor track and field "Athletes of the Year," respectively. Hillsdale College's Cathryn Humphries (Cedar Springs, Mich.) was voted "Freshman of the Year" while Grand Valley State University's Jerry Baltes and Hillsdale's Bill Lundberg were co-named "Coach of the Year."

GLIAC Women's Track Athlete of the Year:
Steph Tinney - Ashland
Junior
Norwalk, Ohio/Western Reserve

For junior Steph Tinney it has been a record-setting season. At the beginning of the indoor season she had the top time in the 400 meter in Division II. She currently has the second-best mark in the nation. At the GLIAC meet she set the conference record while winning the 400 with a time of 55.33. She was also part of the 4x400 relay team that took second place and she was part of the distance medley relay team that placed third.

GLIAC Women's Field Athlete of the Year:
Cheryl Bourne - Ashland
Sophomore
Lansing, Mich.

Sophomore Cheryl Bourne has gotten better as the season has gone along. At the GLIAC championship Bourne made her presence felt in the field events. She took home the top spot in the long jump (17-10.75). She was the runner up in the triple jump (36-0) and she finished third in the pentathlon (3261). She also helped the Eagles in the running events as she was part of the 4x400 team that took second place.

GLIAC Women's Track Freshman of the Year:
Cathryn Humphries - Hillsdale
Cedar Springs, Mich.

Humphries was named the GLIAC Women’s Indoor Track Freshman of the Year, after turning in a brilliant rookie season as a sprinter for the Chargers. Humphries captured two individual GLIAC titles, in the 60 meter dash and 200 meter dash. Her time in the 60 of 7.71 seconds, and her time of 24.92 seconds in the 200, were both NCAA provisional qualifying times. She improved her 200 time throughout the season and was one of several impact freshmen on the Charger indoor team this season.

GLIAC Women's Track & Field Coach of the Year:
Jerry Baltes - Grand Valley State

Jerry Baltes is in his 11th year as the head coach of GVSU’s men’s and women’s track and field teams. He helped coach the men’s team to a first place finish at the indoor championships, which is his 10th title in 11-years. This is also the sixth time he has been named GLIAC Coach of the Year. Baltes also coached the women to a first place finish at the indoor conference meet this year, their 11th straight.

Bill Lundberg - Hillsdale

Head coach Bill Lundberg is in his 25th season leading the Charger track teams. He was named the Women’s Indoor Track Coach of the Year for the second time in the past five years over the weekend, leading the team to a third-place finish at the 2010 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Lundberg has coached more All-American athletes than any coach in the 100-plus year history of Hillsdale College.

-----GLIAC Women's Indoor Track & Field Weekly Notes-----

Ashland Eagles

This past weekend (Feb. 26-27) the Eagles finished second at the GLIAC Championships at Grand Valley State. Speedster Steph Tinney won the 400 meters in 55.23. That is a GLIAC record. Abby Kacsandi, the owner of the best effort in the country in the high jump, won a conference title in that event with a leap of 5-8.50. In the long jump, AU claimed the top three spots. Cheryl Bourne brought home the gold (17-10.75), Lisa Roth was second (17-9.75) and Ana Kidder was third (17-8.25). Bourne was the runnerup in the triple jump (36-0). Kelly Ash took top honors in the shot put (46-9.5) and Tara Cooper was fourth in the weight throw (58-8). AU secured four of the top five slots in the pentathlon. Roth finished first (3531) and her point total is a conference record. Bourne was third (3261), Kacsandi was fourth (3159) and Kendra Bassitt was fifth (3149). In the mile run, Stephanie Stoffel was third in 5:00.35, which is a provisional qualification for nationals. The Eagles next compete at NCAA Division II Nationals on Mar. 12-13.

Ferris State Bulldogs

The Ferris State University women’s indoor track and field team took sixth place at the 2010 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships held Friday and Saturday (Feb. 26-27) at the Laker Turf Building in Allendale, Mich. The Bulldog women netted 19 points in the overall team race. The Bulldog women were paced by freshman Anna Rudd, who took fourth place in the 5,000 meters (17:40.71) and came in fifth in the 3,000 meters (10:14.91). Her time in the 5,000 meters surpassed the national provisional qualifying standard. Freshman Alyssa Osika took sixth place in the mile run (5:02.29) with a national provisional qualifying time. Emily Cross was sixth in both the high jump (5-3.75) and the 60-meter hurdles (9.03) while freshman Shelby Janutol wound up eighth in the mile (5:10.53) for Ferris State. The NCAA-II Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held March 12-13 in Albuquerque, N.M.

Findlay Oilers

At the GLIAC Championship Raven Clay finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 8.57 and also took sixth in the 60-meter dash at 7.96. Stephanie Charnigo placed second in the 800-meter run with a provisional qualifying time of 2:12.07 and teamed with Christine Zimmermann, Jhazmyn Anderson and Lindsey Schmitmeyer to finish fourth in the 4x400-meter relay with a provisional time of 3:52.58. Schmitmeyer added a fifth place finish in the 800-meter with a provisional qualifying mark of 2:13.10, Anderson was eighth in the 400-meter dash at 58.47 and Lisa Kaulfersch was ninth in the triple jump at 33’02.50.

Grand Valley State Lakers

Grand Valley State’s women’s track and field team claimed its 11th consecutive GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Champions on Saturday (Feb. 27) with a team score of 225.5 points. The Lakers captured nine GLIAC titles and head coach Jerry Baltes was awarded GLIAC Co-Coach of the Year. GVSU will now prepare for the NCAA Division II National Championships in Albuquerque, N.M. March 12-13. Lauren Bergstrom (Rochester, Minn.) placed first in the 800-meter run (2:11.79), along with Monica Kinney (Walker, Mich.) taking home first in the mile run (4:57.30). Both Bergstrom and Kinney hit the NCAA provisional mark. Megan Maceratini (Livonia, Mich.) claimed the GLIAC title in the 3000-meter run (10:00.77) and Lynsey Ardingo (Pinckney, Mich.) also captured the title in the 5000-meter run (17:25.83). Senior Candice Wheat (Pontiac, Mich.) took the top spot in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.51 seconds, followed by Jade Hull (Grandville, Mich.) in third (8.83). The Lakers also claimed the titles in the DMR (11:44.87) and the 4x400-meter relay (3:43.77), which set a new school and GLIAC record. In the field events, Jocelyn Kuksa (Palatine, Ill.) finished first in the pole vault with a vault of 12’9.50", which set a new GLIAC record. Freshman Liz Murphy (Washington, Mich.) claim the title in the weight throw with a throw of 62’8", which set a new school record and places her first among division II athletes. Senior Maegan Doyen (Manistee, Mich.) finished second in the high jump with a jump of 5’7" and Lauren Buresh (Stanwood, Mich.) placed second in the shot put with a toss of 46’2".

Hillsdale Chargers

The Hillsdale College women’s track team finished in third place at the 2010 GLIAC Indoor Track Championships. Highlighting the women’s performance Saturday was freshman sprinter Cathryn Humphries (pictured), who won two conference championships. She took first place in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.71 seconds. She then broke the tape in the 200 meter dash, winning in 24.92 seconds. Both of those times were NCAA provisional-qualifying times. Junior Circe Cansino was second to Humphries in the 60, while Jazmin Williams was fourth in the 200. Jennifer Shaffer (800) and Ashley Quick (5000) also finished in third place in their respective races. On Friday the best performances by Charger athletes came by six different ladies in three events, all of whom took second place. Kathy Dirksen took second in the weight throw with a career-best toss of 61 feet, 3 inches. That mark betters her NCAA automatic-qualifying mark set last weekend. The team’s distance medley relay team was second with a time of 11:58.74. Senior distance runner Erin Cvengros turned in a fine performance in the 5000 meter run with a second-place time of 17:36.42.

Lake Superior State Lakers

Freshman Amber Fater (Brownstown, Mich.) placed 10th in the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of :09.43 as LSSU broke two school records at the GLIAC Indoor Championships. Senior Jill Walton (Kingsley, Mich.) broke her own record in the pentathlon, placing 17th with 2,381 points. Walton also placed eighth in the shot put (12.48 meters), while sophomore Laura Lindsey (Gladwin, Mich.) was 10th (12.10 meters). LSSU’s other top finishers were sophomore Katie Winiarski (Brighton, Mich.), who was eighth in the women’s high jump (1.58 meters) and 10th in the triple jump (9.92 meters), and junior Taylor Patton (Northwood, Ohio), who was fifth in the women’s triple jump (10.58 meters) and 15th in the long jump (4.53 meters.

Northern Michigan Wildcats

Bailey Franklin brought home a GLIAC title when she had a leap of 36-11.00 in the triple jump. Catherine Angeli was seventh in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.97. In the prelims she ran a 7.92 for a new school record. She came back in the 200 with a time of 25.76 for fifth. In the prelims she set another NMU record with a time of 25.51.The 800 saw the ‘Cats score on Maegan Hendershot’s time of 2:15.75 for sixth. Her time was a new NMU record and a NCAA Division II provisional cut. Another school record was set in the 4x400 relay when Angeli, Rachael Williams, Erin VanEnkevort and Hendershot ran a 4:01.46.

Northwood Timberwolves

Northwood finished eighth with 15 points. GVSU took home the championship with 225.0 points, followed by Ashland at 152. Kristin Cameron (Algonac, Mich.) had a strong day for the Timberwolves. She had a pair of third place finishes, both of which were school records and NCAA qualifying marks. Her toss of 60-1.25 in the weight throw is an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships. She also had a provisional mark in the shot put with a toss of 46-7.5.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals

The Saginaw Valley State University women’s track and field team participated in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships this weekend (Feb. 26-27), hosted by Grand Valley State University. Sophomore Sarah Kawiecki took seventh place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.16. The relay team of sophomore Angie Brooks (Ortonville, Mich. / Brandon HS), Alycia Wright (Macomb, Mich./Lutheran North HS), Ashley Meyer (Shepherd, Mich./Shepherd HS) and Kawiecki earned a sixth place finish in the 4x400 with a time of 4:07.89. Freshman Chelsea Henderson (Ludington, Mich./Ludington HS) took seventh place in the shot put with a distance of 12.63 meters. Junior Stacey Westphal (Corunna, Mich./Corunna HS) and sophomore transfer Elizabeth Willford (Gladwin, Mich. /Gladwin HS) would earn top finishes in the pole vault, Westphal placing tied for sixth and Willford placing tied for eighth. The SVSU women’s team finished in ninth place overall.

Tiffin Dragons

Tiffin took 7th place at the 2010 GLIAC Championships. Megan Gill was 3rd in the high jump with 5-3.75. The DMR was 4th and Kayla Ellks took 5th in the long jump.