Great Midwest Men's Records (PDF)
Great Midwest Women's Records (PDF)
Final Results
PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Great Midwest Athletic Conference was represented admirably by a large group of provisional/automatic qualifiers that competed at the NCAA Division II National Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Robert W. Plaster Center.
All told, three different individual national champions were crowned and 29 different student-athletes took their place at the awards podium as NCAA All-Americans.
The two-day meet was hosted by the Pittsburg State for the second consecutive year and two teams placed in the top 10 of the men’s scoring, Tiffin (3rd) and Findlay (t10th).
Tiffin junior Jonte Baker blazed his way to a national title in the 60-meter dash, Findlay’s Eldred Henry dominated the throws cage for a new indoor championship meet shot put record and UF’s Austin Combs successfully went back-to-back to defend his weight throw trophy.
Men’s Recap
The men’s competition produced 13 different NCAA All-Americans from the Great Midwest, including eight from Tiffin, four from Findlay and one from Cedarville.
Baker blitzed the previous conference record in both the prelims and finals to be the fastest in Division II with a time of 6.62 seconds in the 60-meter finals. Baker ran a 6.65 in the prelims and was joined by two teammates Tajarie Arthurton (10th in prelims) and Lamar Hargrove in the field.
Combs was a two-time All-American in this year’s indoor meet with a first-place finish in weight throw and top-10 placement in the shot put.
The Great Midwest went 1, 3, 4, in the shot put, an incredible display of depth from the league’s throwers. Henry’s ridiculous postseason continued after he set a new NCAA DII record back at the Great Midwest Indoor Championships held at Findlay.
Finished third was Tiffin freshman Jabari Bennett and fourth was another Dragons’ teammate, sophomore Nikolas Curtiss. Both will be immediate national title contenders going into next indoor season.
Also claiming All-American status from Tiffin was Davis Bowers (7th in pole vault), Cameron Burrows (3rd in high jump), Quincy Scott (7th in long jump) and Toryko Grace (6th in weight throw).
The Oilers had freshman Xavier Marable clock the second and third-best times in conference history in the 400m as he finished eighth in the prelims and improved to end sixth in the finals. Sophomore Martin Etsey established another top-10 best distance in the triple jump as he finished in 10th.
The distinction of a new conference record went to Cedarville sophomore Tommy Ansiel with a fifth-place finish in pole vault. He cleared 5.26m, besting his previous best of 5.25m at the Cedarville Collegiate Indoor Invitational back in February.
Women’s Recap
Sixteen different All-Americans shined in the women’s competition, including three of the top eight teams in the country in the distance medley relay. Walsh, Malone and Cedarville, finished fifth, sixth and eighth, as each runner earned All-American distinction.
Similar to Findlay’s Austin Combs, Walsh standout earned dual All-American awards in both the DMR and the mile, an event she finished fifth in the finals.
Hillsdale’s Allysen Eads was fifth in the mile prelims and crossed the line in seventh in the finals.
Tiffin freshman Marisa Gwinner opened eyes in the high jump with the second-best attempt in conference history. Gwinner cleared 1.74m, just shy of matching her 1.75m distance at the conference meet.
Malone’s Hannah Thompson had a daunting schedule with the 5K and 3K on the docket. The senior Pioneer placed sixth in the 5K was able to finish top 14 in the 3K.
Malone’s additional All-Americans included Rebekah Carr, Jasmine Penrod, Katie Grimes and McKenna Curtis-Collins. Cedarville’s DMR quartet was Kayla Casaletto, Olivia Hoffman, Sarah Hoffman and Rachel Sweeney. Walsh’s fifth-place DMR group consisted of Lehotay, Alexa Leppelmeier, Jetaiya Smith and Bre Bakan.