UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University track and field program competed at the 2023 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The men earned a seventh place finish as a team while the women finished ninth overall. Individually, the Lakers set a combined 23 new personal records, and Jayda Williams (Claxton Bay, Trinidad) shined with top-eight placements in the long jump and triple jump events as well as a personal best time of 7.98 seconds in the 60-meter dash that narrowly missed the finals by 0.02 seconds, earning 83 percent of the Lakers' team points on the women's side.
Riley Nichols (Lakeview, Mich.) placed 14th in the 60-meter dash (7.33) while fellow senior Blake Dunning (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) was not far behind, placing 17th (7.64) with both claiming new personal bests in the event.
Riley Traver (Hartford, Mich.) earned a 15th place finish in the 200-meter race (23.56) with Dunning and Nichols placing 16th (23.87) and 17th (24.12), respectively, while Nichols picked up another personal record.
Michael Sherman (Boyne City, Mich.) paced the Lakers in the 400-meter race with an 11th place mark of 52.79 seconds, and Eric Somsky (Fenton, Mich.) finished 13th with a personal record time of 55.77 seconds.
In the 800-meter race, Aaron Nachazel (East Jordan, Mich.) led the way for the Lakers with a time of 2:03.85 with Roy Bowman (Jerome, Mich.) (2:07.84) and Riley Sponseller (Mt. Pleasant, Mich.) (2:13.91) not far behind.
Skylar Williams (Battle Creek, Mich.) represented the Lakers in the mile, completing the race at a mark of 4:55.25.
Ethan Nachazel (East Jordan, Mich.) and Reese Camp (Highland, Mich.) each earned new personal records in the 5,000-meter run with respective times of 15:50.28 and 16:43.19.
Freshman Avery Timm (Petoskey, Mich.) secured a 12th place finish in the 60-meter hurdles (9.48).
Sherman, Dunning, Aaron Nachazel, and Somsky teamed up for a seventh place finish in the 4x400-meter relay (3:35.77), and Sherman and Nachazel would then combine with Bowman and Ryan O'Neill (Perry, Mich.) to place sixth in the distance medley with a time of 11:00.01.
Traver represented the Lakers in the high jump for a 10th place finish (1.77m), and Timm and Nichols came away with respective placements of eighth (6.26m) and 11th (5.74m) in the long jump event.
Meanwhile, Traver was able to break into the top-eight in the triple jump with a distance of 11.18m.
The throwers would also make their marks with Ryan Reiniche (Hillsdale, Mich.) finishing 9th in the shot put (14.02m) while Jared Christensen (Orleans, Mich.) and John Kulhanek (Owosso, Mich.) earned respective finishes of 10th (12.94m) and 13th (11.74m) with Kulhanek's mark being a new personal record. Meanwhile, in the weight throw, true freshman Trey Nieman (Morenci, Mich.) paced the Lakers for a 10th place finish (13.99m) while Timothy Howes (Hartland, Mich.) placed 12th (12.16m) and Christensen finished in 14th (10.96).
On the women's side, Jayda Williams led the way in the 60-meter dash with a personal best time of 7.98, narrowly missing the finals by 0.02 seconds. Meanwhile, Breanyl Baker (St. Catherine, Jamaica) and Katie Woodruff (Grand Rapids, Mich.) also recorded new personal bests in the event with respective times of 8.08 and 9.28 seconds.
In the 200-meter race, Baker paced the Lakers for a personal best time of 26.75 seconds, and Lindsey Tonello (Cadillac, Mich.) also secured a new personal record with a time of 27.56 seconds. Woodruff competed in the event as well for a 17th place finish (30.26).
Sofia Salazar (Valle del Cauca, Columbia) represented the Lakers in the 400-meter race in which she was able to set a new personal record (1:03.38).
In the 800-meter race, Olivia Stevens (Grand Haven, Mich.) and Katelyn Moore (Grayling, Mich.) placed 20th (2:43.22) and 21st (2:50.16), respectively.
Meanwhile, Sydney Kapushinski (Imlay City, Mich.) and Kate Baker (Northville, Mich.) were each able to pick up a new personal best in the mile with respective times of 5:38.19 and 6:15.91.
The Lakers were represented by Gwen Phillips (Cadillac, Mich.) in the 3,000-meter run, and she was able to earn a 19th place finish (12:46.43).
The contingent of Kapushinski, Tonello, Stevens, and Salazar came away with an eighth place finish in the 4x400-meter relay (4:22.76), and Stevens, Salazar, Moore, and Kapushinski would then team up for a ninth place finish in the distance medley (14:06.42).
Jayda Williams continued her strong outing for the Lakers with a sixth place finish in the long jump (5.34m) while Breanyl Baker narrowly missed the top-eight despite placing second in her flight with a personal record distance of 5.16m. Tonello would also compete in the event, placing 14th (4.74m). Meanwhile, Williams secured another top-eight finish in the triple jump with a distance of 10.20m that was good enough to place seventh.
Alyssa Bonanno (Flat Rock, Mich.) threw for a personal best of 9.24m in the shot put while Paige Johnson (Eckerman, Mich.) also picked up a personal record of her own (8.93m), and Maddi Gould (Sanford, Mich.) threw for a distance of 8.21m.
In the weight throw, Bonanno earned her second personal record of the meet (11.34m) on her way to a 16th place finish overall. Meanwhile, Janelle Docter (Howard City, Mich.) had a personal best of her own to place 17th (11.11m), and Gould placed 22nd (9.31m).
The Lakers were represented by Kara Mosher (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) in the women's pentathlon where she accumulated a personal best of 1873 points in the event. She was also able to secure new personal records in both the 60-meter hurdles (11.94) and shot put (5.88m) as a result.
The Lakers will now turn their attention to outdoor track and field season with their first meet being the MSU Spartan Invitational on March 31.
For full results from the meet, click here.