PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference celebrated a pair of individual event title winners as the 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships concluded last weekend at Pittsburg State University.
The Great Midwest had a total of 22 different NCAA (auto/provisional) qualifiers competing over the two-day event inside the Robert W. Plaster Center.
This season, a total of 12 men’s and women’s NCAA All-Americans from the Great Midwest took their place atop the podium as one of the top eight place winners in their respective events.
Coming into this year, since 2013, a total of seven women’s All-Americans were crowned and five All-Americans on the men’s side had been named. Also notable was incoming 2018-19 member institution Tiffin finishing runner-up in the men’s team scoring by just one point to host Pittsburg St with 48 points.
Ursuline junior Janelle Perry was recognized the night prior to competition starting with the United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Female Track Athlete of the Year.
Perry lived up to her top-seeded billing in the 60-meter hurdles, bringing home a national championship with a blazing time of 8.22 in the finals. She clocked an 8.30 in the preliminaries, a time that ranked second in the talented field.
Perry also clipped her previous overall league and Great Midwest meet record by one hundredth of a second (8.23) at the conference championships conducted at Hillsdale. She was also named the Great Midwest Indoor Female Track Athlete of the Meet.
She is now a dual indoor/outdoor national champion after winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.46.
Findlay and Walsh led the way with five different NCAA All-Americans. The Oilers were paced by a pair of honors from junior thrower Austin Combs. Combs was the national champion in the weight throw with a distance of 20.99m (almost 69 feet) and came in fourth at the shot put.
He currently holds the conference’s overall record in both events. Joining him on the awards podium was DeQuan Lovell, who was fifth in the weight throw and just missed All-American status in the shot put coming in ninth.
George Effah broke the school record in the 400m (47.01 in the prelims) to earn All-American honors. Effah crossed the line in sixth during his finals run with a 48.03. Senior Trey Everett, the Great Midwest Field Athlete of the Meet, competed in the heptathlon.
Malone’s Ashton Dulin clocked an 8-second flat time in the 60-meter hurdles finals to finish sixth. He was fifth in the preliminaries with a time of 7.93.
The Oilers’ women were represented by senior Milani Glass, who took third in the 60-meter hurdles for All-American plaudits. Along with UC’s Perry, the league had two of the nation’s top-three finishers in the 60-meter hurdles.
Great Midwest Field Athlete of the Meet Alex DeVincentis finished fifth in the shot put after winning the event at the conference meet.
Walsh had a total of five NCAA All-Americans, all from the women’s side, including senior Sarah Berger in the mile and distance medley relay.
The Cavaliers’ DMR grouping, also including sophomore Andra Lehotay, senior Tori Reeves and junior Jetaiya Smith, celebrated a runner-up finish in the event only to Western State. Walsh finished with a time of 11:30.22.
Hillsdale’s distance runner Hannah McIntyre finished off a tremendous indoor campaign with NCAA All-American awards in the 3K and 5K events. She was sixth in the 3K and fourth in the 5K.