The track and field GLIAC Championships were held at
Hillsdale College this past week, and both the men’s and women’s team fielded
impressive performances. The men placed
fifth with 77 points, trailing fourth place Northwood by only four points. The women tied for sixth place with Saginaw Valley
State with a score of 42 points. Grand
Valley State University won the women’s meet with 267 points, and Ashland won
the men’s competition with 193 points.
The Dragons had three individual event champions and seven national qualifying performances in the course of the meet. The first event championship came from junior Ramone Brant in the 110 hurdles. Brant won the race with a time of 14.98. Junior Jeremy Lee then followed Brant’s lead in the 1500, winning the race in 3:55.47.
Keith Reiter also had a big day at the meet by automatically qualifying for the Division II national meet in the pole vault. Reiter finished third in the event, clearing the bar at 6.75m (16-6.75). Travis LeFlore hit a national provisional mark in the high jump, leaping 2.05m (6-8.75) to place fourth in a very competitive field.
Sprinter Anthony Thomas achieved provisional marks and two runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200. Thomas crossed the line in 10.57 and 21.41, respectively. Zach Ball and Deven Keene also had strong performances for the sprints squad. Ball took two fifth place finishes in the 100 and 200 (10.77 and 21.99, respectively), and Deven Keene came through the 100 in eighth, his time of 10.82 coming from preliminaries in the event.
Additionally, Thomas Buxton was a dual event placer for the
Dragons. He followed up a sixth place
performance in the 1500 (3:59.19) with a run of 1:58.07 for seventh in the
800. Other strong performances came
from Dan Snyder, Michael Ballistrea, and Raymond Robinson. Snyder placed second in the grueling, two
day decathlon competition with a point total of 6187, while Ballistrea finished
fifth in the 400 hurdles (54.84).
Robinson competed in the discus competition, and his 47.43m (155-7) toss
landed him eighth place. The 4x100
relay team comprised the remaining points for Tiffin. Jacob Buckwalter, Justin Ware, Joe Candito, and Nic Thomas
crossed the line in sixth with a time of 42.98.
For the ladies, Kristen Ameling earned the lone event championship. Ameling’s throw of 14.02m (46-0) is also a provisionally qualifying performance. Senior Andrea Bader will join Ameling on the Division II national list in two events. Bader finished second in the 200 with a time of 24.69 and third in the 100 in 12.09. In addition, Bader leapt her way to fifth in the long jump, covering a distance of 5.40m (17-8.75).
Other fifth place finishes came from Meghan Gill and
Danielle Peterson. Gill high-jumped
1.61m (5-3.25), and Peterson joined Ameling in the shot put with a toss of
13.40m (43-11.75). Other points came
from Amy Buck’s sixth place in the high jump (1.56m, 5-1.25), Maria Shaw’s
seventh finish in the 400 (1:00.43), and the women’s 4x100 relay. The relay team, comprised of Torri Miller,
Britney Meek, Brittany Rupert, and Angela Betterley, finished in eighth with a
time of 51.52.
This Tuesday, Tiffin Track will continue its outdoor season with a home Last Chance Meet.