Sayen Defends 1,500m Title to Conclude GLIAC Outdoor Championships
CALEDONIA, Mich. – The Michigan Tech track & field teams concluded the GLIAC Outdoor Championships with highlights by senior Clayton Sayen repeating in the 1,500m while lowering his GLIAC 1,500m record time along with a school record by Katherine Jarvis in the women's shot put.
The Huskies racked up seven individual podium finishes and one relay podium finish between both the men's and women's squads.
In the team standings, the men of Michigan Tech accumulated 76 points to take fifth-place while the women placed seventh with 37.50 points.
"Overall, I'm really pleased with how we performed this year," head coach Kristina Owen said. "We're a smaller team than most of the competition and we can't support all events which makes it challenging to score well as an overall team. We had some really great performances with a conference champion, a new conference meet record and a new school record. We've got a few athletes still in the hunt for NCAA Championships spots and we're looking to finish the season strong."
"Both teams came away with more points than last year," assistant head coach Robert Young added. "We like to see this growth and look to build upon it next year."
Running Events
The men's 1,500m did not disappoint as the Huskies claimed 21 points highlighted by the one-two punch of Clayton Sayen and Sam Lange putting on a clinic at the oval office. The duo led from the gun and worked together to run a quick time. Houghton native Sayen clocked a last lap of 1:00.37 to get the nod and defend his 1,500m title from a year ago, to add to that, he lowered his own 1,500m GLIAC Outdoor Championships meet record.
Freshman Nik Thomas impressed in his first outdoor conference finals, running a new personal-best time of 3:59.21 to take sixth overall.
"Clayton and Sam delivered on the promises they set up in the prelim yesterday," Young mentioned. "They ran a dominant race at the front that was never in doubt. It was also great to see freshman Nik Thomas running a smart final to grab sixth. Despite losing Clayton for next yer our future remains bright in this event."
Tucker Ringhand executed a great 5,000m to take runner-up honors in the men's 5,000m. In a tactical race, Ringhand answered all the moves put on by early leaders and was in contention for the victory entering the final lap. His kick was not good enough to become the 5,000m GLIAC Champion, but secured eight points to the team to mark his first podium finish at the outdoor conference championships, taking second-place in 14:50.78.
"Tucker ran one of the most strategically sound finals I've ever seen in the 5,000m," Young mentioned. "He gave himself a real chance to win and just got out kicked by a runner with significantly faster personal-bests. The lessons learned from this race will make him a force for us next year."
Jesse Jacobusse earned her second-straight podium finish in the women's 800m, negative splitting her race to take her from 10th through the first lap before dropping a 1:04.62 to take third-place in 2:11.54.
"Jesse wasn't at her best today," Owen said. "But not her best is still impressively good. I am so confident that she's got more there and we're looking forward to seeing it at next week's last chance."
Ryan Schwiderson contributed three points individually, placing eighth in the 100m and seventh in the 200m.
Andrew Lewis ran a shiny personal-best in the 400m hurdles final, clocking in at 54.42 to take the final spot on the podium.
"The sprinters competed well in the finals today," graduate assistant Luke Moore mentioned. "Andrew Lewis was the highlight of the day, he ran a strong race for a personal-best and podium finish in the 400m hurdles and was also a member of our 4x400m relay."
It took a team effort from multiple event groups to earn a runner-up finish in the 4x400m relay, coming just shy of the victory and the school record. Both Schwiderson (100m and 200m) and Lewis (400m hurdles) had contributed points for the Huskies earlier in the day, along with the anchor leg Sayen rewriting the GLIAC Outdoor 1,500m Championship record at the beginning of the day. Danny Ezzo returned from his 800 prelim yesterday to run the third leg of the 4x400m relay.
The relay team was in contention for the lead or leading one every leg before Sayen ran out of real estate to catch a good Saginaw Valley 4x400m squad, who took the victory 3:18.23. The Huskies turned out an impressive 3:18.94 performance with seconds to spare ahead of the third place team in Parkside.
Field Events
Katherine Jarvis highlighted the field events for the Huskies with her school record throw in the women's shot put. The Hancock, Michigan, local posted the school record heave on her second attempt, surpassing the previous record by over three inches with her mark of 42-11.75. Her effort also granted her a spot in the finals, however her second attempt remained the best of her throws and earned her a sixth-place finish.
"Katherine's 13.1m shot put was a new school record, it was impressive for scoring points in the GLIAC's notoriously competitive throwing events," Owen said.
Jamie Hendrickson soared to a personal-best in the high jump, clearing 5-3.75 on her second attempt to place fourth overall.
"Jamie had a great day in the high jump soaring to a new personal-best when it mattered the most," Young added. "Her technical growth in the event this year has paid off with new personal-bests and more consistent results each time out."
The women pole vaulters scored eight points led by Ellie Zimmerman and Kelsey Lovercheck, as they both cleared 11-7 to place fifth and sixth, respectively. Anna Schueller placed seventh following a clearance at 11-1.
"I was really proud of the way our pole vault women adapted to the day," assistant coach Dylan Gaines said. "We haven't had a ton of experience jumping in the wind this year, but Kelsey hit a three centimeter personal-best and then cleared the next height to finish sixth. Ellie had a strong showing to wrap up her career as a husky, taking fifth overall."
The duo of Noah Koball and Max Messina seventh and eighth in the men's discus to chip in three points to the team score. Koball's best effort of 141-8, coming on his second attempt, while Messina also had his best throw on his second attempt, with a throw of 133-5.
Up Next
The Huskies next scheduled meet is the Carius/Gregory Invite in Naperville, Illinois, on May 11-12. However, The Huskies may look for other last chance meets in search of national qualifying standards.