ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Wayne State University women's indoor track and field squad had its best day ever at the GLIAC Championships on Sunday as the sixth-year program totaled 58 points on day two and moved up one spot to finish fifth with 69 points.  The fifth-place finish was a program best for the Warriors.

Grand Valley State won the women's team title with 253.5 points.  Ashland was second with 117 points, while Northern Michigan was third (79) and Tiffin was fourth (73.5).  Trailing WSU was Saginaw Valley State (37), Davenport (15), Northwood (11), Ferris State (8) and Lake Superior State (0 points).

QUOTING COACH LOFDAHL

"We were shooting for a top-three finish; that has been our goal since the beginning of the season, but overall the ladies performed very well.  I am proud of the way this team has come together.

"Karrington continued her march back to the national meet with a dominating performance for her second straight GLIAC 60 hurdles title, and Shanice had a major breakthrough to win the triple jump.  We had a number of people step up and put it all on the line for the team, from Daz Carr in the sprints to Lauren Bohn in throws to Jessie Kluz in the jumps and Teresa Diehl in distance.  I could list many more - so many people did good work.

We are happy with new program bests for points and place, but certainly not satisfied.  We have higher goals in mind for outdoor season and we have some good momentum heading into it.  First though, we will see in a couple of days who qualifies for indoor nationals, and give it our best effort in Kansas."

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

Senior Karrington Seals (Farmington Hills, Mich. / North Farmington) won the 60m hurdles with a season-best provisional time of 8.53.  This was the second consecutive GLIAC title in the 60m hurdles for Seals.

Junior Shanice Leach (Syracuse, N.Y. / Orangeburg-Wilkinson) won the triple jump with a school record and provisional distance of 11.98m (39-03.75).  

SCORING PERFORMANCES

Senior Dazmonique Carr (Lawnside, N.J. / Haddon Heights) earned 11 points with a third-place finish in the 400m (56.89) and a fourth-place finish in the 200m (25.43).

Senior Jessie Kluz (Sterling Heights, Mich. / MMSTC) placed third in the high jump with a provisional mark of 1.68m (5-06.00).

WSU earned seven points in the shot put as senior Lauren Bohn (Windsor, Ont. / E. J. Lajeunesse Catholic) placed fourth and junior Grace Mendoza (Rochester Hills, Mich. / Rochester) finished seventh.  Bohn's best throw was 12.68m (41-07.25), while Mendoza had a personal-best mark of 11.74m (38-06.25).

Senior Kierra Johnson (Pontiac, Mich. / Brandon) was fifth in the 60m dash (7.78) to earn four points.

Senior Rachel Kloski (Warren, Mich. / Fraser) was fifth in the triple jump with a personal best distance of 11.43m (37-06.00).

The 1,600m relay (4x400) quartet of Carr, junior Jordan Baker (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Comstock), junior Jayla Fleming (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Oak Park) and freshman Isabella Bertolini (New Baltimore, Mich. / Anchor Bay) finished fourth in a time of  3:56.32 to earn five points.

OTHER PERFORMANCES

Freshman Lyndsey Braman (Flint, Mich. / Powers Catholic) placed 10th in the 800m with a personal-best time of 2:19.68.

Sophomore Teresa Diehl (St. Clair Shores, Mich. / Warren Regina) finished 12th in the 3,000m race in a time of 10:47.67.

Freshman Morgan Murphy (Novi, Mich. / Farmington) was 14th in the high jump at 1.53m (5-00.25).

Junior Amy Vangieson (Walled Lake, Mich. / Walled Lake Central) placed 15th in the triple jump (9.69m / 31-09.50).

Freshman Gabbi Willett (Holgate, Ohio) finished 17th in the mile (5:39.16) and 19th in the 3,000m event (11:30.78).

Senior Haley Boccomino (Macomb, Mich. / Center Line) was 20th in the 3,000m race (11:35.89).

UP NEXT

Wayne State will await word from the NCAA selection committee on how many provisional marks are good enough to qualify for the NCAA Division II indoor national championships.