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BAY CITY, Mich. - Grand Valley State University's senior Candice Wheat (Pontiac, Mich./Northern) and Northern Michigan University sophomore Bailey Franklin (River Fall, Wis.) were named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) women's outdoor 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:
Candice Wheat - Grand Valley State
Senior, Sprints
Pontiac, Mich./Northern

Senior Candice Wheat was named the 2010 GLIAC Track Athlete of the Year after helping the Lakers claim their 11th consecutive GLIAC title. Wheat collected a first place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.19 seconds, while finishing second in the 100-meter dash (12.53). Wheat also helped both relays teams take home first place, collecting a total of 23 points.

GLIAC Women's Field Athlete of the Year:
Bailey Franklin - Northern Michigan
Sophomore, Jumps
River Fall, Wis.

Bailey Franklin won the triple jump for the second consecutive year at the 2010 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships which were recently held.  She also placed third in the heptathlon and broke the NMU record in the high jump during the event.  Franklin also competed in the high jump and long jump events at the GLIAC championships.  She was third in the high jump and 11th in the long jump.  

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

Freshman Cat Humphries, a double champion at the 2010 GLIAC Champsionship, was named the Women’s Freshman of the Year. Humphries enjoyed her best day of the outdoor season at the best possible time, winning the 100 meter dash in 12.39 seconds, and the 200 in 25.26 seconds.  Humphries also was also the lead runner on the Chargers’ second-place 4x100 relay team at the conference meet.

GLIAC Women's Co-Coach of the Year:
Jerry Baltes - Grand Valley State

GVSU’s Jerry Baltes was named the GLIAC Women’s Co-Coach of the Year after he led the team to its 11th consecutive GLIAC crown in dominating fashion. The Lakers scored 291 points at the meet, setting a new record for most points scored at the GLIAC Outdoor Championships. This is the tenth time that Baltes has earned the honor in the outdoor season, including seventh consecutive seasons.

 

GLIAC Women's Co-Coach of the Year:
Bill Lundberg - Hillsdale

Charger head track coach Bill Lundberg pulled of the rarest of double-doubles last weekend at the 2010 GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He was named the co-Coach of the Year on the women’s side of the meet, matching an honor he won during the 2009-10 indoor season. He guided both of Hillsdale’s teams to third-place finishes at this year’s outdoor championships.

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

Ashland Eagles

The Ashland women finished second at the GLIAC Championships with 146 points. Kelly Ash, one of the nation’s top field athletes, was the conference champion in the discus. Her best effort was 138-08.  Ash was the conference runnerup in the shot (45-07).  Tara Cooper was third in the discus (132-04).  In the high jump, reliable Abby Kacsandi won a GLIAC championship at 5-05.75.  Steph Tinney was the second place finisher in the 400 (56.12).  The AU sprinter was fifth in the 200 (26.56) and eighth in the 100 (14.61).  Tinney joined forces with Lisa Roth, Leah Allen and Teresa Trucco on the 4X400 relay that was third (4:03.77).  In the 100 meter hurdles, Roth was third (14.79).  She placed fifth in the 400 hurdles (1:07.03).  Stephanie Stoffel was fourth in the 1500 meters (4:42.75) and Allen was sixth (4:46.45). Roth finished first in the heptathlon with 4931 points. That is an automatic qualifier for nationals.  Cheryl Bourne was second with 4514 points.  In the long jump, AU took spots two through five, Roth (18-04.25) was second, Bourne (18-03.75) was third, Steph Abbott was fourth (18-00.50) and Ana Kidder (17-08.75) was fifth.  Ashley Gregory placed third in the 10,000 meters. Abbie Selhorst (38:10.03) was fifth and Bryn Winters (38:11.23) was sixth.  In the hammer throw, Cooper (179-04) was fourth and Ash (168-00) was sixth.

Ferris State Bulldogs

The Ferris State University women’s track and field team wrapped up action in the 2010 GLIAC Outdoor Championships on Friday (May 7) at Top Taggart Field.The Bulldog women concluded the three-day meet on their home track in seventh place with 23 points. In Friday’s finals, Bulldog women’s freshman Zoey Hohmann took third place in the 400 meters (58.23) and also placed sixth overall in the final round of the 200 meters (26.57). Freshman Alyssa Osika finished sixth overall in the 800 meters (2:20.60). Senior Emily Cross took part in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles and placed sixth (15.30) in the field.  She also was sixth in the high jump (5-1.75) on Friday. Junior Amy Joostberns came in seventh overall in the discus (124-8). Freshman Anna Rudd placed eighth overall in the finals of the 5,000 meters (18:01.69). Freshman Shelby Janutol also competed on Friday in the final round of the 1,500 meters and came in 12th overall (5:06.00). Freshman Christa Cwiek scored FSU’s only points of the day on Thursday with a seventh-place overall finish in the javelin (104-2) for the Bulldog women. This year represented only the fourth time in the last 24 years that FSU played host to the GLIAC Outdoor Championships.

Findlay Oilers

The University of Findlay women’s outdoor track and field team completed the 2010 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championship on Friday, May7 in Big Rapids, Michigan.  The women took fifth with 62 points. Stephanie Charnigo took first in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:39.90 and teamed with Raven Clay, Christine Zimmermann and Lindsey Schmitmeyer to capture the silver in the 4x400-meter relay at 3:55.22. Clay added a second place finish in the 100-meter hurdles after crossing the finish line in a provisional time of 14.20 while Schmitmeyer was second in the in the 800-meter run at 2:17.49. Clay also teamed with Charnigo, Lisa Kaulfersch and Schmitmeyer to finish fourth in the 4x100-meter relay at 49.65 while placing fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.96. Zimmermann added a fourth place finish in the 800-meter at 2:18.21 as well.The Oilers will be back in action again on May 14-15 at the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia.

Grand Valley State Lakers

Grand Valley State claimed its 11th consecutive Outdoor GLIAC crown on Friday (May 7) with 291 points, the highest point total in GLIAC history. Candice Wheat collected a first place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.19 seconds, while finishing second in the 100-meter dash (12.53). Wheat also helped both relays teams take home first place, collecting a total of 23 points. The 4x100-meter relay team of Wheat, Amber Triner, Kayla Vallar and Serena Black finished with a time of 47.71 seconds, while the 4x400-meter relay team crossed at 3:53.45. Vallar also received GLIAC Champion in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.00 seconds, while Chanelle Caldwell took home top-honors in the 800-meter run (2:14.82). GVSU took the top-four spots in the 5000-meter run, Megan Maceratini was the top-finisher (17:21.66). In the 400-meter hurdles, Kirsten Nozime placed first (1:02.72), followed by Danielle Fonseca in second (1:02.73). Karie McDonald set a new GLIAC record in the 3000-meter steeplechase (10:48.9). In the field events, senior Maegan Doyen finished second in the high jump (5’3.75"), while Jocelyn Kuksa also placed second in the pole vault (12’4.75"). The Lakers scored 18 points in the discus throw with Sam Lockhart finishing second (134’4"), while in the shot put Lauren Buresh took home first (49’2.25"). Liz Murphy beat her school record in the hammer throw with  a first place toss of 197’10".

Hillsdale Chargers

The Hillsdale College women’s track team finished in third place at the 2010 GLIAC Championships, held at Ferris State University, earning 136 points. Head coach Bill Lundberg was named the co-Women’s Coach of the Year, duplicating an honor he won during the indoor season. Freshman Cat Humphries, a double champion, was named the Women’s Freshman of the Year. Humphries enjoyed her best day of the outdoor season at the best possible time, winning the 100 meter dash in 12.39 seconds, and the 200 in 25.26 seconds. Teammate Marta Scheiwe was second in the 200, with a time of 25.99 seconds. Gwen Buchhop was victorious in the javelin throw, tossing the implement 40.19 meters. Circe Cansino won the long jump with a leap of 5.59 meters. Senior Anna Leutheuser finished third in the hammer throw, but earned an NCAA auto-qualifying mark of 55.08 meters. Freshman Kayla Caldwell had the best mark in the pole vault during preliminaries, setting a new school record by clearing 4.0 meters. That was also good enough to be an NCAA auto-qualifying spot.

Lake Superior State Lakers

Senior Jill Walton (Kingsley, Mich.) broke her own school records in the shot put and hammer throw at the GLIAC Championships hosted by Ferris State. Walton completed a throw of 48.87 meters to break her own mark and place ninth in the women’s hammer throw during Day 2 of competition. On Day 3, she threw the shot 12.59 meters and placed sixth. She improved upon her former record of 12.50 meters. Walton also placed ninth in the javelin throw with a distance of 33.29 meters. LSSU teammates Taylor Patton (junior, Northwood, Ohio), Sarah Gallagher (freshman, Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) and Katie Winiarski (sophomore, Brighton, Mich.) were seventh, eighth and 10th in the women’s triple jump. Winiarski also tied for third in the high jump at 1.57 meters.

Michigan Tech Huskies

Molly Wiltzius was the top finisher for Michigan Tech after finishing sixth in the discus. Her throw  of 126-6 was her best this season and the fifth-best in school history. She also finished 14th in the shot put (35-1.25) and 19th in the hammer throw. Her throw of 139-11 was a personal-best by over nine feet and ranks third all-time in school history. The Huskies also received strong performances in the women’s 10,000 with Jill Smith finishing 11th in a personal-best time of 39:50.67 and Alison Springer-Wilson finishing 13th in a personal-best time of 39:50.67. Smith’s time was the sixth best in school history and Springer-Wilson’s time was ninth. Nicole Pierce finished 15th in the 400 (1:02.90) and 18th in the 200 (27.80). Beth Geerer finished 16th in the 400 (1:04.77) and Sydney  Bruestle was 16th in the 1,500 (5:02.31). Elizabeth Stempihar finished 13th in the steeplechase (13:48.1).  Nikki Kiilunen finished 16th in the 5,000 (19:02.47).

Northern Michigan Wildcats

For the second year in  a row the Northern Michigan University women’s outdoor track and field team finished in fourth place at the GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Bailey Franklin was named the Women’s Field Event Athlete of the Year, she won the triple jump for the second consecutive year and was third in the heptathlon. Franklin set a new NMU record in the high jump during the heptathlon. Catherine Angeli set new NMU records in the 100 and 200-meter dashes during the prelims, she ended up fourth in both events. Maegan Hendershot qualified ninth in the 800 and ended up third in the finals. NMU had three of the top four throwers in the javelin as Krista Squiers was second, was followed by Angela Leckson and Mariah Beaman.

Northwood Timberwolves

Northwood placed ninth overall at the GLIAC Championship with 19 points. GVSU earned the women's victory with 291 points, followed by Ashland at 146. Leading the way for Northwood was Kristin Cameron (Algonac, Mich.), who finished second in the hammer throw with a toss of 185-9. That betters the school record she set last week and moves her up to fourth on the national performance list. Hannah Stone (Lapeer, Mich./East) earned a third place finish in the 1,500 with a time of 4:42.45.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals

Competing in the heptathlon, for the women, was freshman Chelsea Henderson.  On the first day, Henderson earned a third place finish in the 200-meter dash clocking in at 26.88 and a first place finish in the shot put with a distance of 12.27meters.  Henderson was placed sixth overall after the first day.  On the second day, Henderson earned a first place in the javelin throw with a toss of 33.34meters. She would end the day placing fifth overall with a point total of 3,896.  Henderson also earned a fifth place finish in the open shot put with a toss of 12.62meters.  Sophomore Samantha Roberts placed third in the 400-meter hurdles crossing the line with a final time of 1:05.38.  The 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Kelsey Bartoloni, Roberts, Sarah Kawiecki, and Alycia Wright placed fifth overall and came in with a final time of 4:04.90. The women’s team finished sixth overall with a total of 34 points.  With the conclusion of the GLIAC Championships the women’s track and field season has now ended.

Tiffin Dragons

The Dragons came in 8th of 11 at the GLIAC Champsionships. Kayla Ellks came in 2nd in the triple jump with 35-6. Meghan Gill was 3rd in the high jump with 5-1.75.