UIndy Track and Field finds success indoors
The men’s track and field team took home the Great Lakes Valley Conference title at the 2012 GLVC Indoor Track and Field championship for the third consecutive year on Feb. 26, with the women’s team placing third.
The event was held at University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The men’s squad won with a total team score of 189, beating out Missouri S&T with a score of 94. The women’s team scored a total of 124.5 points.
“I think we have done really well,” said sophomore track member Camille Edwards. “We are showing a lot of improvement from meet-to-meet, which is really what matters.”
The Greyhounds had five individual champions at the indoor meet, as well as two track and field athletes of the year. All individual champions were named first-team All-GLVC.
Senior Jerel Flournoy set a meet-record in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 21:79. In the men’s 400-meter dash, junior Robert Gardner also set a meet record, with a time of 47:96. Flournoy and Gardner were a part of the men’s 4×400, along with freshman Kyle Schwartz and Junior Jermel Kindred. Their squad took first with a time of 3:24.
“We are doing an awesome job. We are doing really well. We are getting better as the days go by,” Flournoy said. “I’ve done really well, but I feel like I can do better. That’s the plan for this weekend, trying to get better times down individually.”
Other honors included Head Coach Scott Fangman being named GLVC Coach of the Year for the men’s team.
“It’s great to have a good team and a great coaching staff,” Fangman said. “I am very blessed to have an expert coaching staff because they are some of the best coaches.”
Gardner and Kindred posted NCAA provisional times in the 200-meter dash. Kindred finished with a time of 22:14. In the 400-meter Kindred took second and Flournoy took third, both earning provisional marks with times of 48:50 and 48:75, respectively.
Kindred, Track Athlete of the Year, also took second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7:68.
Women’s champion freshman LaTisha Martin won the GLVC 400-meter run with a time of 57:71.
In the field events, junior Ryan Smith took home the 2012 GLVC shotput title, tossing 17.17 meters, which also was an NCAA provisional mark. Senior Matt Royer, coming in third, also earned a provisional mark.
Royer, Field Athlete of the Year, was also the weight throw champion at the indoor meet throwing 20.45 meters. His toss set a new meet record and also was an NCAA provisional mark. Smith threw 19.50 meters earning an NCAA provisional mark and taking second place. To round out the top three in the event, junior Marcus Montgomery threw a provisional mark of 17.94 meters, earning third place.
For the women, junior thrower Katy Watson took home the shotput title and posted a provisional mark with a toss of 12.50 meters. Junior Valorie Wagner also earned a provisional mark in long jump by earning second place with a jump of 5.60 meters.
For the men, freshman Joshua Bass earned the GLVC long jump title with a leap of 7.47 meters also good enough for a provisional mark. Flournoy was not far behind with a second place finish of 7.28 and an NCAA provisional mark.
The UIndy track team will now prepare for its outdoor season.
“We will be doing some work outdoors, and we will be better,” Fangman said. “We have two more throwing events [for outdoors]. We also have three more running events that are very good events for us as a primarily outdoor team.”
All athletes who earned provisional marks at the GLVC indoor meet will participate in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track Championship in Mankato, Minn., at Minnesota State University Mar. 9-10.
