2019 Outdoor Track & Field All-Conference Team (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – By virtue of their placement on the podium at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hillsdale, men’s and women’s student-athletes earned their spot on the all-conference team as announced Thursday.
The all-conference team includes four individual award winners, separate from athletes of the meet, that were voted upon by the league’s coaches.
Selections for the all-conference first, second and third team, were based on order of finish in their respective events at the conference championship meet.
The men and women were each responsible for 12 different new outdoor meet records, another impressive step forward for one of the conference’s strongest sports. Tiffin won both men’s and women’s team titles, making it a clean sweep for the Dragons during the indoor and outdoor campaigns.
The Great Midwest Men’s Track Athlete of the Week was Walsh senior Jacob Kernell as he helped lead the Cavaliers to a runner-up team finish at the outdoor championships.
Kernell has flourished in cross country as a national championships qualifier and carries that pedigree to track and field, this time headed to Texas for nationals in the 3K steeplechase. Kernell broke the conference meet record with a time of 8:52.87 to rank third best all-time in league history.
He only trails former NCAA DII champion and former Cedarville standout Daniel Michalski for the top spot. Kernell goes into nationals seeded fifth in the event as a championship contender.
Findlay’s Eldred Henry was named the Great Midwest Field Athlete of the Year after breaking the conference shot put record and establishing a top-10 mark in the discus throw. Henry broke the meet record with an attempt of 20.33m and set the overall standard at the Tennessee Relays with a distance of 20.56m.
The Great Midwest Freshman of the Year was voted as Davis & Elkins’ Emeric Arnaud, who earned dual track and freshman of the meet honors at Hilsdale. Arnaud has the overall and conference championship record in the 5K distance.
The women’s awards for the year included Great Midwest Track Athlete of the Year Kajsa Johansson. The speedster burned the track on her way to new overall and meet records in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Johansson is entered in the NCAA Championships in both events and is seeded 14th and tied for 7th, in those distances.
The Great Midwest Field Athlete of the Year was Tiffin senior jumper Miaisha Blair following her field athlete of the meet award also earned at Hillsdale. Blair won the triple jump competition during the conference championships with a distance of 11.37m.
Blair also won the long jump with a distance of 5.63m while narrowly missing the provisional qualifying mark.
The Great Midwest Freshman of the Year was Tiffin thrower Nicole Berry. With ease, Berry stepped into the forefront as the new conference shot put record holder, doing so at the Mt. SAC Relays out in California.
She then broke the conference meet record with a distance of 15.44m at Hillsdale and also possesses the sixth-best distance in conference history in the discus throw. Berry was also the freshman of the meet at the conference championships.
Earning both Great Midwest Coach of the Year honors from Tiffin was Jeremy Croy. The Dragons won both conference championship trophies at Findlay (indoor) and Hillsdale (outdoor) and is sending 14 men and three women out to nationals in Texas.