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Championship Central |
GLVCSN Archive
LIBERTY, Missouri – For the fourth time in school history and the first since 1998, Lewis University has swept the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The Flyers secured both titles Saturday at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, with the men scoring 174 points while the women netted 213 points in the winning effort.
Lewis had swept both outdoor titles over the course of a three-year span from 1996-98, but the men’s program had not secured a conference crown since that 1998 season. The women earned their record-tying seventh overall outdoor title, sharing the conference lead with the University of Indianapolis.
After falling just four points shy of the GLVC women’s title last year, in what was the second-closest title race in conference history, the Flyers left no doubt this season as they secured the win by 111 points – the fourth-largest victory in the 20-year history of the event. It is also the largest victory since former member SIU Edwardsville defeated Indianapolis 323-138 to win the 2008 title.
Bellarmine University entered Saturday’s competition sixth overall with just 22 points, but the Knights amassed 80 points on the final day to grab second overall with 102 points. The runner-up finish is the Knight’ best since finishing second from 2011-13. Indianapolis placed third overall with 100.5 points, followed by Truman State University and host William Jewell in a tie for fourth at 61.5 points. McKendree University (57) and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (54) were sixth and seventh, respectively, while Maryville University (53) and Missouri S&T (53) tied for eighth. The University of Southern Indiana (42.5) was 10th, followed by Saint Joseph’s College (13) and Drury University (8).
On the men’s side, Lewis sat third with 47 points and 13 markers back of leader UIndy entering Saturday. The Flyers soared to the lead to finish with 174 points, good for a 21-point victory over Indianapolis (153). McKendree (117) finished third for the second consecutive season, while Missouri S&T (109.5) was fourth and Saint Joseph’s (60) and Southern Indiana tied for fifth to round out the top five. William Jewell (41) and Truman State (40) were seventh and eighth, respectively, followed by Bellarmine (39), Maryville (12), UW-Parkside (8.5) and Drury (4).
Among the highlights recorded on Saturday, GLVC records were broken in four events.
Lewis’ Andre Barnes established a new standard in the 400 meters with a time of 46.91 seconds, besting the previous mark of 46.95 set by SIU Edwardsville’s Jonathon Bannister in 2005.
Fellow Flyer Zoe Mead broke the league record in the 800 meters as she raced to a time of 2:10.46, one second faster than the 2:11.63 set by Lewis’ Beth Bayser in 1998.
A day after setting a new GLVC record in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.08, William Jewell’s Blake Alexander did it again by registering a new conference standard in 13.99.
The Flyers closed out the day in style with a new GLVC record in the men’s 4x400-meter relay. Lewis earned a time of 3:13.01, which bested the previous mark of 3:13.49 set by SIU Edwardsville in 2007.
All first-place finishers were named GLVC Champion and first-team All-GLVC, while runners-up earned second-team All-GLVC distinction.
At the conclusion of the event, major postseason honors were awarded. The following is a list of this year’s honorees:
Men’s Track Athlete of the Year: Blake Alexander, William Jewell
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Ryan Pierce, McKendree
Men’s Freshman of the Year: Domontez McCray, McKendree
Men’s Coach of the Year: Dana Schwarting, Lewis
Women's Track Athlete of the Year: Chantel Stennis, Lewis
Women's Field Athlete of the Year: Amber Cook, Lewis
Women's Freshman of the Year: Cierra Pulliam, Lewis
Women's Coach of the Year: Dana Schwarting, Lewis