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Lake Superior State Track & Field Heads to Hillsdale for the 54th Annual Gina Relays

Lake Superior State Track & Field Heads to Hillsdale for the 54th Annual Gina Relays
Apr 21, 2021

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's and women's track and field teams will compete at the 54th Annual GINA Relays hosted by Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich. on Thursday, April 22, Friday, April 23 and Saturday, April 24. Thursday's events are scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m., Friday's events will begin at 12:00 p.m. and Saturday's competition will open at 11:00 a.m. 

The Lakers outdoor season continues at Hillsdale this weekend as the team, led by head coach Rob Gallinger, gears up for the final few weeks of competition before the GLIAC Championships in the beginning of May. Through the first three meets of the outdoor season, Gallinger's team has set numerous personal-bests while a few student-athletes have set new LSSU school records. 

The GINA Relays, named in honor of Hillsdale's distance running legend Gina Van Laar who passed away in a car accident in 1996, will host athletes from 46 colleges as well as a number of elite sponsored and amatuer athletes competing unattached in the three-day meet. 

The premier Hillsdale track & field competition is highlighted by the distance events and will open with the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs on Thursday night. Because of the size of the fields in the distance events, the races will be broken up into an "open" race that is available to all entrants and a "championship" race that is reserved for the fastest competitors and requires a strong enough seed time to qualify. The events that will have separate championship races include the men's and women's 1,500 meter run, the men's and women's 5,000 meter run, and the men's 10,000 meter run. 

The Lakers will have a number of athletes competing in the distance events. The women's distance events will include the 1500 meter distance where three Lakers will be competing. Junior Leah Bell, freshman Nicole Houghland, and senior Alexis Passino will be representing the Lakers. Last weekend at the Al Owens Classic, Bell and Passino both set new personal records in the distance. Passino placed eighth in her grouping with a time of 5:00.42 as she bested her previous record by 12 seconds. 

On the men's side, the Lakers will have athletes in all three distance events. Senior Kendal Delpiere, freshman Ryan O'Neill, and senior Peter Shambaugh will all run in the 1,500 meter distance for the Lakers. Shambaugh and O'Neill both set personal records in the distance at last weekend's meet. Freshman Ethan Nachazel, who set a new PR in the 5,000 meter run last weekend, will compete in the event this weekend at Hillsdale. 

In the longest distance race of the GINA Relays, junior David Mitter will represent the Lakers in the 10,000 meter run. Mitter has put together a strong 2021 season for the Lakers as the distance runner has bested a Lake Superior State school record on three different occasions. Mitter last competed in the 10K distance in November 2019 at the NCAA Division II Midwest Region Cross Country Championships where he ran a personal record time of 31:56.1. 

Full list of events and participants

Women's Events & Participants:

 

Men's Events & Participants:

For live results, click here.

For a schedule of events, click here. 

For more information on Laker athletics, visit lssulakers.com

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