INDIANAPOLIS – Olivia Esbenshade of Cedarville and Malone’s Olga Branney were chosen as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week on Monday.
 
Esbenshade, a senior from Marietta, Pa., competed in the Grand Valley State Big Meet on both Friday and Saturday. Friday, Esbenshade finished ninth in the 3K with a provisionally-qualifying time of 9:50.39, which broke a school record by more than nine seconds.
 
It also set a new G-MAC record, beating a time of 9:59.82 set by Trevecca Nazarene’s Caroline Hampton back in December of 2014.
 
Esbenshade was not done there though. Saturday, she helped guide the Yellow Jackets to a record-setting time of 11:29.57 in the distance medley relay. She ran with Carsyn Koch, Lyndsey Smith and Olivia Kundo.
 
Not only did the group win the event, but it broke the school and G-MAC record set by Koch, Smith, Esbenshade, and Sarah Hoffman, at last year’s same GVSU Big Meet with a time of 11:45.18. The quartet also set a new record for the GVSU Big Meet as well as a Kelly Family Sports Center record.
 
The foursome’s auto-qualifying time also sits at No. 2 in NCAA Division II this winter. They will make a trip together to the DII National Championships.
 
Branney, who has now won the field athlete of the week award three times this season, won the high jump competition at the Tiffin Dragon Invite on Saturday with a mark of 5’6” (1.68m).
 
Branney, along with winning the competition, tied a Malone record and broke her own G-MAC record set on Jan. 20. She now holds claim to the top three heights cleared in G-MAC history.