Results (PDF)

2016-17 All-Conference Award Winners (PDF)

CEDARVILLE, Ohio - With all eight teams competing, the 2017 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship produced an exciting outcome that had Cedarville on top for the second year in a row.

The Yellow Jackets went back-to-back after also winning the G-MAC indoor women's title in 2016 while Ursuline won the inaugural conference title in 2015.

It was Ursuline who gave Cedarville all it could handle at the top of the standings in a fierce race to the end -- just a mere two points separated both programs in the final standings. Both the Yellow Jackets (currently ranked fifth) and Arrows (previously ranked 16th) have emerged among the nation's best.

Cedarville would close out the meet with a strong showing in the relays to ultimately finish with 170 total points while Ursuline could call itself a proud runner-up with 168 points. The regular season was a strong indication that many meet records could fall and a total of 11 (out of a possible 16) women's event standards were reset on Saturday.

Cedarville broke four of those G-MAC Championship records, including the 4x4 relay, 3K, 5K and mile distances. Notably, the Yellow Jackets were without the services of junior national champ Carsyn Koch, who sustained an injury prior to the day of competition; she has nationally auto qualified in the 800, mile and DMR, this season.

Individual awards were also voted upon by the coaches at the conclusion of the meet inside the Doden Field House on Cedarville's campus.

The G-MAC Track Athlete of the Year award was presented to Cedarville senior Olivia Esbenshade, who was also the G-MAC Cross Country Runner of the Year in the fall. She could call herself the mile champ, the 800-meter run champ and part of the winning 4x400-meter relay unit.

Esbenshade set new conference meet records in the mile and 4x4 while almost shattering the best 800 time. She was a member of the auto-qualifying DMR grouping for the Yellow Jackets and additionally auto qualified for nationals in the mile during her indoor campaign.

G-MAC Field Athlete of the Year honors went to Ursuline sophomore Janelle Perry, who broke her own meet records in the long jump and 55-meter hurdles. Perry could be found just about anywhere on Saturday either in the throws cage, jumps pit or on the track, showing off the complete package of skills in her athletic frame.

She competed in 55-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, triple jump (runner-up), high jump (runner-up) and 55-meter dash (fourth). Perry was a three-time G-MAC Athlete of the Week in 2016-17. Teammate Kayla Cool also won two field event titles in the triple jump and pole vault.

Earning the votes for G-MAC Freshman of the Year was Ursuline rookie Nicole Yeargin, who earned conference titles in the 200 and 400-meter runs. She also finished third in the 4x4 relay and was fourth in the high jump.

Ursuline's third individual award was delivered to head coach Daniel Tutskey, named G-MAC Coach of the Year. Tutskey and his staff with XC coach Alaric Best, Stacey Baron and Tina Perrine, all deserve credit for the Arrows' rapid ascent through region and national rankings.

Other G-MAC meet records broken not mentioned above included the weight throw (Crystal Hopkins - Kentucky Wesleyan) and high jump (Olga Branney - Malone).

This was the third annual indoor conference meet in the league's history. With the addition of first-year G-MAC member Malone and first-year track and field programs from Davis & Elkins and Ohio Valley, the competitiveness was raised another bar as the league prepares for more established programs like Findlay, Hillsdale, Lake Erie, Ohio Dominican and Walsh, to enter the scene in 2017-18.

Malone finished third in the Pioneers' first attempt at a conference meet while Kentucky Wesleyan placed fourth after sweeping both throwing events (weight throw, shot put) once again. Trevecca Nazarene finished fifth, Alderson Broaddus sixth, Davis & Elkins seventh and Ohio Valley eighth, to round out the team scores.

Official all-conference award winners (based on placement) will be announced in the next day as they are finalized.