Esbenshade, a senior from Marietta, Pa., competed in the Grand Valley State Big Meet on both Friday and Saturday. Friday, Esbenshade finished ninth in the 3K with a provisionally-qualifying time of 9:50.39, which broke a school record by more than nine seconds.
It also set a new G-MAC record, beating a time of 9:59.82 set by Trevecca Nazarene’s Caroline Hampton back in December of 2014.
Esbenshade was not done there though. Saturday, she helped guide the Yellow Jackets to a record-setting time of 11:29.57 in the distance medley relay. She ran with Carsyn Koch, Lyndsey Smith and Olivia Kundo.
Not only did the group win the event, but it broke the school and G-MAC record set by Koch, Smith, Esbenshade, and Sarah Hoffman, at last year’s same GVSU Big Meet with a time of 11:45.18. The quartet also set a new record for the GVSU Big Meet as well as a Kelly Family Sports Center record.
The foursome’s auto-qualifying time also sits at No. 2 in NCAA Division II this winter. They will make a trip together to the DII National Championships.