Track and Field wins awards in conference
The University of Indianapolis men’s track and field team on April 17 were announced as one of the winners of this year’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Sportsmanship Awards for the winter season.
The voting was done by the GLVC member institutions’ campus SAACs, and with the award, the Greyhounds were honored as the most sportsman-like team this past winter season for men’s track and field in the GLVC.
The award was not UIndy’s first of the year, however. Earlier in the year, the football team also received the honor. The university now has two of the awards.
Each team will receive a team award, and an overall ‘Good Sportsmanship’ award will be given to the school with the most points during the 2012-2013 academic year.
The Greyhounds competed April 12-13 at the Little State Championships at Indiana Wesleyan University. Both the men’s and women’s teams placed first out of 12 and 11 teams, respectively, and took home the championship crowns.
Three Greyhounds claimed National Collegiate Athletic Association provisional marks at the championships, including senior Katy Watson, who put up her first provisional mark of the season, winning in the women’s discus with a throw of 43.86 meters.
Also putting up provisional marks for the Greyhounds were sophomore Farin Hickman in the women’s hammer and junior T.J. Lovejoy in the men’s hammer.
Hickman won the women’s hammer with a throw of 51.19 meters, which improved her mark on the NCAA provisional qualifying list. Lovejoy won the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 60.10 meters, which also improved his mark on the list.
On April 17, Lovejoy and Watson both received two of the four awards for Outdoor Great Lakes Valley Conference Track and Field Athlete of the Week for their performances.
With the two student athletes receiving the awards, UIndy at that point won two of the awards for the second straight week.
A number of Greyhounds have set provisional marks this season, and one of those is sophomore Sydney Weinert, who set the first provisional mark for the women earlier this season in the high jump.
Weinert previously played on the women’s basketball team earlier this year and said that the high jump was something she has grown fond of since she concluded her collegiate basketball career.
“I used to play basketball for the university until I was asked by [Head Men’s and Women’s Track and Field] Coach [Scott] Fangman to try a high jump,” she said. “After that, I realized it was something I wanted to continue, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Weinert said that differences between track and field and basketball include both the atmosphere and the rules. According to Weinert, preparations for events in both sports differ as well. Weinert said that studying film for their events helps the women in their preparation.
“Watching films of other teams playing helps us prepare for the track and field competitions. It helps us have an idea of what we might expect when we play against them,” Weinert said.
In terms of the team’s preparation, Fangman said that he is impressed with the student athletes.
“I truly believe I have one of the best teams when it comes to meet preparation, and this makes me proud to be a coach,” Fangman said. “Seeing the growth and maturity of the team’s members makes me love my job as a coach even more.”
The Greyhounds will compete at the Hillsdale Invitational on April 27, at a time yet to be determined. Following the invitational, the Greyhounds will compete against other conference opponents at the GLVC Outdoor Championships at a time also yet to be determined.
