Bloch Shines for Huskies on Final Day of GLIAC Championships
ASHLAND, Ohio – The Michigan Tech men's and women's track & field teams wrapped up the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Friday afternoon in Ashland, Ohio. The Tech women finished sixth in the team standings while the men placed eighth. Liz Bloch highlighted the week for the Huskies by earning First and Third Team All-Conference accolades.
"I am extremely proud of our athletes and the way we competed this weekend," Head Coach Jake Isaacson said. "We snuck some points in events we weren't supposed to score in and our top athletes came through with big performances.
"I want to thank our seniors. They have truly been wonderful to work with, and I will miss them tremendously. They have laid the groundwork for success on and off the track, and have provided great models for our younger athletes. In addition, I'd like to thank our staff also. Dan, Justin, Dillon, and Jamie have helped me a ton this year, and we could not have had a successful season without them."
Bloch, who hails from St. Clair Shores, Michigan and is the reigning GLIAC Track Athlete of the Week, sprinted her way to first place in the 1500 Meter Run on Friday afternoon. She hit the line with a time of 4:36.81 and edged Allie Ludge of Grand Valley State by nearly two seconds for the victory. Bloch is an NCAA provisional qualifier and with the win is a First Team All-GLIAC honoree for the 1500 Meter Run this season.
Bloch made her way back to the podium in the 800 Meter Run on Friday thanks to a third place finish in that event. Bloch covered the distance in a time of 2:16.49 and just missed out on second place by a little over a second. The finish by Bloch made her a Third Team All-GLIAC honoree for the 800m in 2018. Bloch generated 16 combined points in the team standings with her performances in 1500m and 800m events Friday.
Ashley Veale made it to the finals in the 400 Meter Hurdles and checked in at the No. 6 spot in the final standings. Veale clocked a time of 1:03.29 and picked up three team points for the Huskies. Emily Byrd had a solid run in the finals of the 5000 Meter Run and wrapped up the event with a fifth place time of 18:36.97, good for four points in the team totals.
The team of Aimee Allen, Veale, Jesse Jacobusse, and Madisyn Estkowski claimed fifth place in the finals of the 1600 Meter Relay with a time of 4:05.66 on Friday. The finish delivered four more points for the Huskies in the team standings. In field events, Jenna Burns had a good throw in the Shot Put and her mark of 12.78m landed her in fourth place in the finals. It also produced an additional five team points for the Huskies.
"Our Women's team really impressed me," Isaacson added. "We had 11 women score in this, and we've made huge progress after only scoring 10 points a year ago. Lizzie lead us again with phenomenal performances in the 1500m and the 800m including a GLIAC championship!"
On the men's side, Grant Brown crossed the line in a time of 15:49.87 for a fifth place finish in the 5000 Meter Run Friday which picked up four points. John Bailey, Joshua Rzeppa, Michael Tuski, and Jacob Namyst advanced to the finals in the 1600 Meter Relay where they took seventh place with a time of 3:24.06 to earn two points.
In field events, Jon Nelson along with Keith Lemley powered their way into the top six in the finals of the Pole Vault. Nelson cleared the bar with a mark of 4.71m and Lemley was right there with him on an identical mark of 4.71m. The pair combined to generate seven team points for the Huskies.
"Our men competed very hard against the best teams in the nation, Isaacson said. "We had some bittersweet results with quite a few 9th place finishes, but we are pretty young and will be looking to build upon this year's progress."
The NCAA Division II track & field championships are scheduled to take place May 24-26. Additional Tech results from Friday's GLIAC Championships are listed below. Links to the GLIAC Championship website and complete results are located at the top of the press release.
Women's 1500
Liz Bloch (1st 4:36.81)
Julia Manzano (9th 5:05.40)
Women's 5000
Emily Byrd (5th 18:36.97)
Katherine Schneider (11th 19:28.85)
Men's 400 Meter Relay
Mundinger, Jarvis, Bailey, Namyst (6th 43.43 seconds 3 Pts)
Men's 1500
Brendan Klynstra (9th 4:26.09)
Men's 800
Joshua Rzeppa (7th 1:58.04 2 Pts)
Men's 5000
Grant Brown (5th 15:49.87 4 Pts)
Chase Scheel (11th 16:16.78
Robbie Watling (16th 16:50.99)
Men's Shot Put
Michael Frahm (9th 15.35m)
Jacob Evilsizer (16th 13.25m)
Noah Dobrzelewski (17th 12.23m)
Men's Triple Jump
James Huey (9th 12.76m)
Men's Pole Vault
Jonathan Nelson (5th 4.71m 4 Pts)
Keith Lemley (6th 4.71m 3 Pts)
Riley Roquet (9th 4.41m)