KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Four Champions were crowned and two new league records were set on Thursday’s opening day of the 2024 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are being held at Stokes Stadium/Gardner Track on the campus of Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo.
Women’s Hammer Throw
- University of Indianapolis’ Zoe Pentecost set a new GLVC standard by tossing a NCAA Provisional mark of 62.74 meters (205-10), besting her own record from 2023 of 59.21.
- Cydney Banks of William Jewell College secured silver (53.58, 175-10) with a NCAA Provo score.
- Greyhounds’ senior Audra Hogan (51.84, 170-1) placed third.
Men’s Hammer Throw
- Missouri S&T’s Jacob Luebbert set a new GLVC record of 68.83 meters (225-10), beating the previous mark of 67.15m (220-3) that had held since 2012 by UIndy’s Matt Royer.
- Levi Graham (64.52, 211-8) of Lewis finished as runner-up.
- Truman State’s Jacob Morris tossed his way to bronze (59.91, 196-7).
- All three met NCAA qualifying standards.
Women’s 10,000-Meter Run
- After a one-hour delay due to weather, Lewis’ Caroline Pacer-Ryan clocked a 35:57.31 to secure the first running event gold of the weekend.
- Hadley Fisher (36:08.12) of UIndy placed second.
- Flyers’ Josephine Bober (36:14.26) found herself on the podium in third.
- All three were NCAA qualifying marks.
Men’s 10,000-Meter Run
- Charlie Wirth made it a clean sweep for Lewis in the event, placing first in a NCAA Provo time of 30:23.96.
- Flyers’ Sean Ryan (30:46.78) was close behind as the runner-up.
- Ethan Haynes (30:47.87) of Drury clocked in at third.
Women’s Heptathlon
- UIndy junior Ellie Lengerich (2,971) holds the lead through the first half of the event.
Men’s Decathlon
- S&T's Otto Knittel leads the men's decathlon with 3,481 points through the first half of the event.
Team Scores – Women
- 1) UIndy – 34.0, 2) Lewis – 20.0, 3) and William Jewell – 11.0, 4) Drury – 5.0, 5) Illinois Springfield – 4.0, 6) Missouri S&T – 2.0, 6) Truman State – 2.0. Maryville, McKendree, Missouri-St. Louis, Quincy, Rockhurst, Upper Iowa, and Southwest Baptist have not yet scored points.
Team Scores – Men
- 1) Lewis – 29.0, 2) Missouri S&T – 19.0, 3) Drury – 6.0, 3) Truman State – 6.0, 5) Missouri-St. Louis – 5.0, 6) Maryville – 4.0, 6) UIndy – 4.0, 8) Quincy – 2.0, 8) Southwest Baptist – 2.0, 10) Illinois Springfield – 1.0. McKendree, Rockhurst, and William Jewell have not yet scored points.
The top-three finishers in all finals events were named All-Conference honorees.
The combined events will kick off the day again on Friday morning at 9 AM Central Time and run throughout the afternoon to their conclusions. In the field events, the men and women will compete in the finals of the long jump and pole vault. Elsewhere, the women will complete the discus, while the men finish the day with shot put.
Running events commence at 3:30 PM with prelims of the 100- and 110-meter hurdles. The 100-, 200-, 400-, and 800-meter races are scheduled throughout the day, along with the 400-meter hurdles, while the men's and women's 3,000-meter steeplechase finals will begin at 7:10 PM in the nightcap.
Live and free coverage can be seen by logging on to the GLVCSN's official website,
GLVCSN.com, or by downloading the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, as well as the Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV OTT platforms. Live results can be found on the official Championship homepage at
GLVCsports.com/2024outdoor. Updates will also be included on the GLVC's official Twitter accounts (@GLVCsports and @GLVCSN) with the hashtags #GLVCtrack and #GLVCchamps being used throughout the coverage.
For spectators planning to attend in person, a single-day admission on Friday and Saturday will be $15 for adults and $5 for students (with ID) and youth (6-12th grade). Children 5 and under are admitted free. Tickets must be pre-purchased online at
GLVCsports.com/tickets, and no cash will be accepted on-site.