Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference will celebrate its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. This week’s featured team is the 2009 Missouri S&T men’s indoor track and field squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 19: 2009 Missouri S&T Men’s Indoor Track & Field
SEASON SUMMARY
The 2009 Missouri S&T men’s track and field team used its depth to post several high finishes to claim its first conference championship in any sport, winning the GLVC Indoor Championships at Wabash College. The high finishes allowed the Miners to score a winning total of 183 points, 46 ahead of runner-up Indianapolis and 55 more than Lewis for third place. Missouri S&T had five first-place finishes on the men's side at the meet, highlighted by
Dan Hellwig’s indoor school record pole vault performance that earned him an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Championships. Hellwig cleared 17 feet to win the event as four Miners finished among the top five. The other firsts came from the distance medley relay team of
Brendan Smith, Paul Roland,
Bryan Kluge and
Drew Thomas with a time of 10:23.62 that edged Indianapolis by 0.26 seconds, triple jumper
Jarryd Dean, who led three Miners at the top of the list in that event with a mark of 44-8 and
Jordan Henry, who won the heptathlon during the two-day meet. Henry and
Peter Hollenbeck went one-two in the heptathlon competition and both provisionally qualified for the NCAA's with their marks. The Miners also had runner-up efforts from
Brandon Etzold in the 800 meters in 1:57.67,
Derick Winkle in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.87 seconds,
Elijah Thomas in the triple jump at 43-11 ¼ and Henry in the pole vault at 16-6. At the conclusion of the meet, Henry was named GLVC Athlete of the Year and mentor Sterling Martin was recognized by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year. The momentum continued for the Miners at the NCAA Championships as Henry finished national runner-up for the second consecutive year in the pole vault, while Hollenbeck and Hellwig tied for eighth place to give S&T three All-Americans in the event. As a team, Missouri S&T finished in a tie for 18th place with Northwest Missouri State and Indiana (Pa.).
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Jordan Henry
- NCAA Championship national runner-up in pole vault (2008, 2009)
- GLVC Athlete of the Year (2009)
- Richard F. Scharf Paragon Award – GLVC Male Athlete of the Year (2009)
- GLVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2008, 2009)
- ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America (2008-2nd, 2009-1st)
- Four-time All-American
- Inducted into the GLVC Hall of Fame (2015)
Peter Hollenbeck
- Three-time All-American
- Finished fourth in pole vault at 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, sixth in 2008, and tied for eighth at NCAA Indoors in 2009
- Finished second at GLVC Indoor Championships in the pole vault in 2010, third in 2008 and 2009, and fifth in 2007
- Placed sixth in heptathlon (2010)
- GLVC Champion in Decathlon (2009, 2010)
- GLVC Field Athlete of the Year (2010)
- Inducted into the GLVC Hall of Fame (2018)
Dan Hellwig
- Five-time All-American
- Finished fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and sixth at Indoors (2011)
- Placed third in the pole vault at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships (2010)
- GLVC Pole Vault Champion in 2010 (Outdoors) and Indoors (2011)
- Academic All-America (2011-2nd)
Sterling Martin
- GLVC Indoor Coach of the Year (2009)
- GLVC Outdoor Coach of the Year (2009, 2014, 2015)
- Mentored S&T standouts to 25 All-GLVC honors in 2009
- Served as S&T head coach through the 2015-16 season
LASTING LEGACY
The 2009 Missouri S&T indoor track and field squad became the first Miner team to earn a GLVC Championship since the school joined the league in 2004. The Miners would continue its success in the outdoor season where they held off UIndy in the closest conference meet in history as they took the title by a single point. Five Miners won conference titles during the indoor season and four titles were claimed by S&T during the outdoor meet, while a total of 25 Miners took all-conference honors from the two seasons combined. The 2009 title would be the only indoor crown won by the Miners, although S&T has gone on to win the GLVC Outdoor Championship in 2014, 2015 and 2018. Regardless of the venue, S&T has been a fixture in the top-three of the team standings since that memorable campaign in 2009. Piotr Gal and Luke Rosenbaum would earn GLVC Indoor Freshman of the Year accolades in 2012 and 2015, respectively, while Adriel Hawkins was tabbed Track Athlete of the Year in 2014 and Jared Anders was voted Field Athlete of the Year in 2010. In outdoor competition, Terry Robinson earned Track Athlete of the Year in 2010 and Hawkins claimed the honor in both 2012 and 2014. In addition to Peter Hollenbeck picking up Field Athlete of the Year accolades in 2010, Joseph Vellella was recognized with the 2014 award. This past season, Shaun Meinecke earned GLVC Coach of the Year accolades in just his second season directing the Miners. Pole vaulters Jordan Henry and Hollenbeck were honored with the league’s highest distinction within the past few years as Henry was named to the Class of 2015 and Hollenbeck to the Class of 2018 of the GLVC Hall of Fame.