Championship Central |
Results
INDIANAPOLIS – Bellarmine University captured the 2018 Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship in thrilling style as action concluded Sunday night at the Athletics & Recreation Center on the campus of the University of Indianapolis.
One year after finishing runner-up to Lewis in a lopsided affair, 202-121, the Knights secured their third GLVC title in the event’s final race of the championship, the 4x400-meter relay. Down 12 points heading into the 3,000 meters, Bellarmine outscored Lewis 14-0 on the heels of Erin Crone and Karly Gawarecki finishing second and third, respectively. Those 14 points gave Bellarmine a two-point advantage prior to the final relay. The Knights captured the relay crown in 3:51.77 and were followed closely behind by Lewis. The first-place result locked up the title for the Knights, 143-139, marking the four-point margin of victory the narrowest in GLVC Championship history.
Indianapolis was third with 117 points, followed by McKendree University (84), University of Southern Indiana (49), Truman State University (28.5), and William Jewell College (24) in seventh. Drury University (20) and Missouri S&T (20) tied for eighth, while Maryville University (6) was 10th and University of Illinois Springfield (1) was 11th. Quincy University did not register a point. Due to Conference sanctions, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside was ineligible for the league title and was not officially scored at the meet.
Among the notable efforts on Sunday, after Cierra Pulliam of Lewis broke Bellarmine’s Meghan Roby’s GLVC 60-meter record (7.65) from 2017 with a 7.63 in Saturday’s preliminaries, both Roby and Pulliam reset the record in the finals with Roby crossing the line in 7.57, followed by Pulliam in 7.61. Pulliam would later win the triple jump with a GLVC record and NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 13.02 meters. In a similar situation to the 60 meters, Roby earned the 200-meter crown last year in 24.66, and then broke her own GLVC record in yesterday’s prelims in 24.50, only to break it again with a winning time of 24.43. Bellarmine’s Amanda Schnabel (8.68) edged Lewis’ Joelle Ataessien (8.77) to win the 60-meter hurdles. Allie Heinzer of Lewis took home the 400 meters in 56.48, while teammate and freshman Ashleigh Macleod won the 800 meters in 2:14.25. In the mile, USI’s Melina Gryschka posted a winning time of 5:02.79, while her teammate Hope Jones registered a win in both the 3,000 meters (10:02.05) and 5,000 meters (17:19.97) on the weekend. In the field events, Bellarmine’s Yashira Rhymer-Stuart repeated as the high jump champion with a winning clearance of 1.66 meters. UIndy freshman Kyle Falcone cleared 3.56 meters to win the pole vault, and teammate Katie Monk set a GLVC record in the shot put at 14.70 meters.
At the conclusion of the GLVC Championship, the women’s coaches selected Bellarmine’s Roby as GLVC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year for the second straight year. Pulliam and Macleod of Lewis were named the Field Athlete and Freshman of the Year, respectively, while Bellarmine head coach Aaron McAndrew was honored with GLVC Coach of the Year distinction.
The league also recognized its annual team and individual honorees for the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award. Bellarmine was voted as the team winner this season, while the 13 individuals are listed below. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
2018 GLVC MAJOR POSTSEASON HONORS
Track Athlete of the Year: Meghan Roby, Bellarmine
Field Athlete of the Year: Cierra Pulliam, Lewis
Freshman of the Year: Ashleigh Macleod, Lewis
Coach of the Year: Aaron McAndrew, Bellarmine
GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award Winners (Indoor Track & Field)
TEAM - Bellarmine
Karly Gawarecki, Bellarmine
Katie McCune, Drury
Aeriel Storey, Illinois Springfield
Katie Monk, Indianapolis
Allie Heinzer, Lewis
Hannah Haegele, Maryville
Jordyn Looman, McKendree
Amanda Wetzel, Missouri S&T
Kellyn Lamore, Quincy
Emily Roberts, Southern Indiana
Gemma Satthoff, Truman State
Grace Bitangalo, UW-Parkside
Emmalee Hyde, William Jewell
2018 Team Standings
| 1. |
Bellarmine |
143 |
| 2. |
Lewis |
139 |
| 3. |
Indianapolis |
117 |
| 4. |
McKendree |
88.5 |
| 5. |
Southern Indiana |
49 |
| 6. |
Truman State |
28.5 |
| 7. |
William Jewell |
24 |
| 8. |
Drury |
20 |
| |
Missouri S&T |
20 |
| 10. |
Maryville |
6 |
| 11. |
Illinois Springfield |
1 |
| 12. |
Quincy |
0 |
| 13. |
UW-Parkside |
DNS* |
*Did not score (GLVC Sanctions)