MARQUETTE, Mich. – After another successful meet at the St. Norbert Invite in De Pere, Wisconsin, the Northern Michigan track & field team will be back in action on Wednesday, taking part in the GLIAC Outdoor Championships in Allendale, Michigan, hosted by Grand Valley State.
The conference meet will begin on Wednesday, April 29th, and finish on Friday, May 1st.
The Heptathlon opens the meet on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Thursday's events will open with the second part of the Heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by track events at 2:30 p.m. ET. At 3 p.m. on Thursday, the field competition will begin with the javelin throw. Friday's events will begin with the discus and high jump at 10:00 a.m.
Follow the Action
Follow @NMU_Track_Field and @NMU_Wildcats on X for updates leading up to and during the events.
Last Time Out
In its final tune-up ahead of the regular season, the Wildcats competed at the St. Norbert Invitational last weekend, where the team finished in second place with 183 points, falling just short of 188.13 points from victor UW-Oshkosh.
The Green and Gold collected 10 victories, led by three by
Danielle Lund in throws, including a school record of 13.75m in the shot put. On the track,
Baux Truckey sprinted to a pair of wins.
NMU's first win was secured by
Paige Anderson in the 1500m, who finished with a time of 4:56.52, a personal best.
In the 3000m steeplechase, the 'Cats claimed the top two spots.
Anya VanSweden was first at 10:40.61, followed by
Celia Wallace right in her rearview mirror at 10:44.05.
Truckey secured a pair of wins in the 100m (12.27) and the 200m (24.87).
Lily Phillips secured a win in the 400m hurdles, besting the competition with a time of 1:03.97.
Lund continued her dominant season with three victories in throws. First in the shot put, she set yet another new school record with a throw of 13.75m, eclipsing her throw of 13.69m from two weekends ago in California. In the hammer throw, she reached 52.54m for the win. And she made it a trio of top finishes in the discus, reaching 45.21m.
Teiolla Harvey would score another NMU victory in the javelin throw with a distance of 36.44m. That distance put her over two meters ahead of second place.
In the high jump,
Meadow Ptak recorded a victory as she secured a personal-best clearance of 1.57m.
Last Year at the GLIAC Championships
Last season was historic for the 'Cats as they earned the program's best-ever conference finish by taking second place at the GLIAC Championships.
The Wildcats comfortably finished in second with 125.5 points. Grand Valley won with 287 points while Wayne State was third with 108 points. In the 22-year history of the NMU program competing within the GLIAC, it is the first time they've ever finished as the runner-up in either the Indoor or Outdoor Championships.
It would be difficult to look through the results and not see something noteworthy from the Green and Gold. Two individuals earned a GLIAC title to highlight nine podium finishes. In addition, the team set three school records and four NCAA provisional marks.
Northern dominated the javelin throw by obtaining two of the three podium spots. Harvey threw a school-record distance of 40.86m to stake her claim as GLIAC champion and earn Northern's first-ever victory in the event.
Crystal Walker earned a second-place podium finish in the long jump, backed by another school record and NCAA provisional mark jump of 5.93m, edging her previous top mark of 5.92m.
Another silver medal came from Kati Smith in the pole vault, eclipsing the bar at 3.64m. She joined Jaime Smith as the only other Wildcat to earn at least second in the outdoor rendition of the pole vault.
The Green and Gold also found success in the heptathlon.
Natasha Nowakowski finished in 3rd, highlighted by a win in the shot put, and is just the fourth Wildcat to grab a podium finish in the heptathlon.
