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Lakers Look to Continue Recent Success at GVSU's Extra Weekend Meet

Lakers Look to Continue Recent Success at GVSU's Extra Weekend Meet
Apr 29, 2021

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State men's and women's track and field teams will compete at the GVSU Extra Weekend Meet hosted by Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. on Friday, April 30 and Saturday, March 1. Friday's events are scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. and Saturday's competition will open at 11:00 a.m. 

 The Lakers look to take advantage of their final competition of the season before the 2021 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Championships next weekend. The team, led by head coach Rob Gallinger, has put together a solid spring season as numerous personal-bests and new LSSU school records have been set. 

On the men's side, one of the key athletes to watch is David Mitter, who will be running in the 5000 meter distance race. Last weekend at the Hillsdale Gina Relays, Mitter competed in the men's 10,000 meter championship race and placed seventh among the 20 participants. His time of 30:33.21, which is a personal best, stands as a NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark. The distance runner has had a strong season for the Lakers as he has bested a Lake Superior State school record on three different occasions and looks to continue that success this weekend. 

In the men's running events, the Lakers will look to build upon last weekend's success at the Gina Relays. Blake Dunning, Riley Nichols, Elijah Denning and Nikolas Curlett each posted personal bests in the 100 meter dash last weekend while Eric Somsky (400m), Roy Bowman (800m) and Aaron Nachazel (800m) also set new personal records. Ryan O'Neill, who will be running the 1,500 meter race for the second weekend in a row, is coming off a strong effort at the Gina Relays as he finished 14th among 29 runners with a personal best time of 4:16.41.

The women's team hopes to build upon last weekend as well as three Lakers placed first overall in their respective event while Ryan Reiniche from the men's team also recorded a first place finish at the Gina Relays. 

Reiniche, a first year thrower on the men's team, placed first overall in the men's discus competition as he set a new personal record in the event with a distance of 43.85 meters for the top mark among the 18 participants in the event. Reiniche will take part in the discus event as well as the shot put competition this weekend at GVSU. 

Elizabeth Setsuda, who will be competing in the 400 meter dash and the long jump, is coming off of a record setting performance last weekend. Setsuda broke the previous LSSU school record of 5.54 meters (Kristin Peddle, May 10, 2002) as she placed first overall with a jump of 5.59 meters. Setsuda heads into the Extra Weekend Meet with the fourth best mark in the GLIAC this season. 

Bethany Wilson, who is in her first outdoor season with the Lakers, will compete in the discus event this weekend following a first place finish at last weekend's Gina Relays. Wilson currency holds the ninth-best mark this season with her 40.71 throw last weekend that landed her in first place among the 18 competitors. In addition to the first place finish, Wilson also set the LSSU school record as she surpassed the previous record of 40.36 meters (Megan Cowan, May 11, 2005). 

Another key athlete on the women's team is Jenna Fleming, a freshman javelin thrower, who has put together an impressive first season with the Lakers. She recorded a first place finish at last weekend's Gina Relays, marking the third time in four meets this season that she has finished first overall. Fleming's mark of 45.16 meters from the Blizzard Buster meet at the beginning of the season still stands as her best of the year, which ranks first among all GLIAC athletes and 18th among all Division II athletes. 

In all four meets this season, Fleming has surpassed the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark (41.84 meters). Earlier this year, Fleming set a new school record in the javelin and has recorded throws surpassing the prior school record in all four meets this season. 

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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