INDIANAPOLIS – National preseason No. 1 Tiffin flexed its muscle to open the 2019-20 campaign as the Dragons collected Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week awards on Tuesday.
 
The Dragons are ranked No. 1 by the USTFCCCA for the first time in program history, leading a top five that includes No. 2 Colorado School of Mines, No. 3 Central Missouri, No. 4 Ashland and No. 5 Lincoln.
 
Tiffin, opening the new year with 158.07 points in the balloting, ended the 2018-19 indoor season ranked third in the 2019 national rankings with one national champion and eight All-Americans on the men’s side alone.
 
Track Athlete of the Week
Jonte Baker
Tiffin
Sprints
Senior
Cleveland, OH (John Adams HS)
 
The fastest man in Division II was at it again at the Tiffin-hosted Alumni Open, blazing to an auto-qualifying time in the 60-meter dash, Baker’s signature event as the defending NCAA Division II champion.
 
Baker clocked the third fastest time in conference history in the finals with a 6.72; the only times better were his preliminary and finals attempts at nationals last year.
 
Baker won the event and also posted a 6.76 in the prelims. The swift senior still possesses nine of the top 10 times in the 60-meter dash among all Great Midwest runners.
 
Baker also won the 200-meter dash in 22.19 seconds in a field of 25 total runners.
 
Early in the indoor season, Baker ranks No. 2 nationally in the 60-meter dash only behind Mason Phillips of Northwood (MI). Baker and Phillips are the only two to hit an automatic qualifying mark so far.
 
Teammate Elijah Gauldin, runner-up to Baker in the both the 60 and 200-meter runs at the Tiffin Alumni Open, is currently ninth nationally in the 60.
 
Field Athlete of the Week
Nikolas Curtiss
Tiffin
Throws
Junior
Lancaster, OH (Lancaster HS)
 
After qualifying for nationals as a sophomore in both the shot put and weight throw, Curtiss is primed for a major breakthrough as one of the nation’s elite hurlers.
 
Curtiss finished fourth in the shot put at nationals in 2019 as he hit some impressive marks in his season-opening effort at the Tiffin Alumni Open.
 
Curtiss, with teammate Jabari Bennett, auto qualified in shot put – the only two in Division II to do so this season.
 
Curtiss finished second to Bennett with a distance of 18.45m (60’ 6.5”). He proceeded to win the weight throw at 17.82m (58’ 5.75”) with a provisional distance.
 
Curtiss now ranks 15th among all throwers in DII in the weight throw.