INDIANAPOLIS – Preseason No. 21 Tiffin opened the 2019-20 campaign as the Dragons collected Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week awards on Tuesday.
 
The Dragons are one of three Great Midwest women’s programs stacked in the USTFCCCA Preseason Top 25 joining No. 22 Hillsdale and No. 25 Walsh.
 
Track Athlete of the Week
Rajiah Andrews
Tiffin
Sprints
Junior
Chicago, IL (West Aurora Senior HS)
 
Andrews was part of a pair of first-place finishes at the Tiffin Alumni Open while setting a record in the short sprints that hadn’t been touched since 2017-18.
 
The junior breezed to victories in the 60-meter dash and contributed to a win in the 4x400-meter relay.
 
Andrews officially shattered the 60-meter dash record by blazing to a 7.51 time in the finals.
 
She broke the previous mark by a considerable margin of 7.64 by former Ursuline star Janelle Perry back in 2018. Andrews had placed third in her preliminary try in the event.
 
Andrews was the top preliminary time in the 60-meter hurdles and went on to place third in the finals.
 
The Dragons recorded a top time of 4:11.02 in the relay as Andrews ran second between Alexya Peoples, Tatiyana Cooper-Lawler and Stephanie Fernandez.
 
Field Athlete of the Week
Marisa Gwinner
Tiffin
Jumps
Sophomore
Galion, OH (Galion HS)
 
The reigning national champion in the high jump set the proverbial bar substantially higher while breaking her own conference record at the Tiffin Alumni Open.
 
The sophomore auto qualified for nationals with a clearance of 1.76m (5’ 9.25”) in her 10th attempt of the event.
 
Gwinner bested her previous high clearance of 1.75m at the 2019 conference indoor championships hosted by Findlay.
 
She won the national title at a height of 1.74m and now owns seven of the league’s top 10 heights cleared in the high jump.

Gwinner is tied for the top height in Division II along with Saginaw Valley State's Cheyenne Willilamson. They are the only two auto qualifiers for the indoor season so far.