Track squads earn 14 firsts

April 16, 2007 —

by Adam Baudoux

Freshman Mark Badowsky prepares to hit the sand in the long jump competition in the SVSU Outdoor Collegiate Open Saturday. He went on to win the event with a distance of 6.72 meters.

by Adam Baudoux

Sophomore Nicole Schmidt emerges out of the water jump in the women's 3000-yard steeplechase on Saturday. Schmidt won the event, crossing the finish line in 11:37.90.

Both the men's and women's track teams had strong showings at their only home meet of the outdoor season, taking 14 first-place finishes and 30 top-three finishes.

Senior Ashley Bishop led the way for her team, taking three firsts. She threw the shot put 13.73 meters, the discus 39.51 meters, and the hammer 50.22 meters, giving the Cards 30 team points.

Freshman Megan Willemsen was also instrumental in the team's success, taking first in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dash with times of 12.63 and 24.95 seconds.

The women dominated the 400-meter hurdles, as senior Mandie Gallier won the event with a time of 1:03.03 and was followed by senior Lisa Fair, sophomore Ashley Coppens, and senior Krystin Vogel.

The Cardinals' "A" teams won both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, as well.

Overall, the women had 10 first-place finishes, which helped them to a second-place finish behind Northern Michigan.

The men, meanwhile, had four firsts but thoroughly dominated the rest of the events, earning 207.5 team points. The next closest team, Lake Superior State, finished with just 80.5 points.

Sophomore Sam Tilmon won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.64 seconds, just .08 seconds better than freshman teammate Brock Humphries.

The Cardinals' "A" team of freshmen Ryan Irwin and Tony Filipek, Tilmon, and senior Chris Baranek took first in the 4x400 relay.

Finally, freshman Mark Badowsky beat out junior teammate Eltaro Hooper in the long jump by .02 meters with a jump of 6.72.