The Ferris men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams launched their season Friday, Jan. 19, at the Kelly Family Sports Center in Allendale for the Grand Valley State University (GVSU) Open.
In their first outing, the Bulldogs totaled 34 points on the men’s side and six on the women’s.
Senior Jon Cook led the Bulldogs in the high jump as he placed first in the event and earned a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Provisional Qualifying mark with a 6-8.25 jump.
The Bulldogs’ junior Cody Stilwell earned a National-Qualifying mark with a runner-up finish in the weight throw with a 65-2.75 throw. This was Stilwell’s best throw in his career at Ferris and set a new school record.
Sophomore sprinter Stanley Williams placed eighth in the 60-meter dash finals and senior Trevor Holowaty placed ninth in the 3,000 meters.
The Ferris men finished in seventh place in the 4-by-400-meter relay, which consisted of sophomore Dylan Hearns, sophomore Ethan Israels, freshman Mark Jacobs and junior John Alberts.
“Our team ran well for our first meet at GVSU. For a lot of the guys and girls it was our first time on an indoor track in a long time so it was good time to jump in a few races and shake the rust off from the winter training,” Holowaty said. “Coach Kelsh has really been emphasizing recovery this winter training season.”
On the women’s side at GVSU, sophomore Katie Etelamaki finished fifth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:28.89, freshman Sydney Dawes took sixth place in the 800 meters with a time of 2:18.82 and freshman Carissa Schurr finished ninth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:23.18.
Junior Sarah Utchel finished in eighth place in the 60-meter dash finals with a score of 7.97.
“The Grand Valley meet was a great showing for the women’s team, especially with it being the first meet back and for most of us the first time even getting onto a track this winter. I think we all ran really well,” senior long-distance runner Kelly Babcock said.
Both the men’s and women’s teams would then compete at Saginaw Valley State University (Jan. 26-27).
The Ferris women won the distance medley relay with the team of Dawes, Salix Sampson, Schurr and Kylie Hutchinson with a time of 12:29.96.
Etelamaki finished fifth in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:02.17, which beat her personal-best time by 15 seconds. Schurr came in sixth place in the women’s 800 meters with a personal-best time of 2:16.42. Ferris sophomore Hannah Price finished in eighth place in the 60-meter hurdles and set her own personal-best time at 9.68.
On the men’s side, Cook tied for first in the high jump. Williams finished sixth in the long jump with 6.88 meters and Holowaty took 11th place in the men’s 3,000 meters with a time of 8:35.36.
Stilwell managed to reach the NCAA Division II National Provisional Qualification mark with his weight throw of 19.07 meters and was the runner-up in the event.
The teams will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, as they head back to Allendale for the GVSU Big Meet.
Click here for more from the Torch’s Sports section.