Photo Galleries ( Day 1 | Day 2 | Awards Podium)
Full Results
CEDARVILLE, Ohio – A dominant two-day showcase by the University of Findlay led to the program’s second league title at the 2021 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championships over the weekend.
The Oilers recorded a total of 157 points and secured five different individual event wins in the 200, 400, weight throw, heptathlon and triple jump. It was a balanced effort to hold off Tiffin, the conference runner-up with 144 points, as both programs entered as nationally ranked programs according to USTFCCCA. This was Findlay's second conference title since joining the Great Midwest; the Oilers were victorious in 2019 at the meet hosted by Hillsdale.
Walsh would finish third (92), Hillsdale placed fourth (84) and Malone (82) rounded out the top-five scoring teams, respectively. The top three individuals in each event continued to officially be recognized as all-conference performers for the meet.
Day two in the Doden Field House featured plenty of running events and talents on display in the pole vault, various jumps and the shot put.
Findlay scored points in all but two of the 17 events completed. Sprinter tandem Josh Verhoff and Xavier Marable secured max points in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash. Verhoff actually tied Marable’s conference meet record of 21.86 seconds in a very competitive final.
Another impressive performance came from Keandre Marlow, who finished the men’s heptathlon in first place with 4,768 points. The Oilers also went 1-2-3 in the high jump between the trio of Emmanuel Durden, Cameron Stine and Aaron Cooper, all cleared 1.97m while accounting for 24 Findlay points.
Tiffin also went 1-2-3, this time in the shot put as senior Ralph Casper hit an auto qualifying mark of 18.78m. Four more throwers met provisional distances and four of the top five finishers were Dragons.
Shattering a meet record and overall conference record was Cedarville senior pole vault specialist Tommy Ansiel, who skied over 5.31m. He easily broke his own PR of 5.26m at the 2019 NCAA Indoor T&F Championships.
The Great Midwest individual award winners were recognized following the event in a private ceremony with no fans or outside spectators permitted. This year’s Track, Field and Freshman Athletes of the Meet, were determined by the most points accounted for their team.
The Great Midwest Track Athlete of the Meet was Malone redshirt senior Noah Schaub, conference record holder in the 5K. The distance specialist swept individual conference titles in the both the 3K and 5K races with times of 8:46.57 and 14:48.57. He was responsible for 20 of Malone’s team points.
The Great Midwest Field Athlete of the Meet was Findlay’s Martin Etsey, who captured the triple jump crown and was second in long jump. He hit a provisional mark in the triple jump (15.28m) and on day one, was only behind Tiffin’s Quincy Scott in long jump. He was responsible for 18 of Findlay’s team points.
The Great Midwest Freshman of the Meet was Hillsdale sprinter Jamahl Burke, who was also conference athlete of the week once in 2020-21. Burke was a finalist in both the 200 and 400-meter runs, finishing second and fourth in his first conference meet. He also helped the Chargers carry the torch in the 4x400-meter relay for a win and was individually responsible for 11 of his team’s points.
The final award presented was the Great Midwest Elite 23 award, presented to the participating student-athlete with the highest GPA. The inaugural offering went to Cedarville senior Micah McKanna, who is majoring in Visual Communication Design. He ran in the 5K and clocked a 15:58.30.
Select auto and provisional qualifiers will prepare to compete at the NCAA Indoor T&F Championships that are set for March 11-13 in Birmingham, Ala., at the CrossPlex.