The Bulldogs travelled down to Allendale to compete in a field of nearly 1,800 student-athletes at Grand Valley State in the Kelly Family Sports Center.
The Bulldogs stayed in Allendale Feb.10-11, to compete against student-athletes from 50 different schools.
FSU senior Tina Muir led the Bulldogs as she qualified for an automatic bid in the GLIAC Indoor Tournament by winning running the women’s 5000-meter event on Feb. 10 in a time of 16:28.71.
Bulldog junior Alyssa Osika finished third in the open division of the women’s 800-meter run, finishing with a time of 2:14.64. Junior Zoey Hohmann finished in ninth place in the women’s 200-meter dash on the same day.
Ferris freshman Shea Van Klompenberg came in seventh place in the 400-meter run with a time of 58.97, while Ferris junior Shelby Janutol took ninth place in the 800-meter mid-distance event.
The Bulldogs finished seventh in the women’s 4×400-meter relay with a time of 4:01.81.
Finishing up for the women was sophomore Jessica Pilling’s sixth-place performance in the women’s weight throw.
The Bulldog men were driven by senior Justin Price’s 10th-place 400-meter performance. Freshman distance runner Spencer Gerber finished in 11th in the men’s open mile run with a time of 4:20.54.
“I think this is the best year that we’ve performed at the Grand Valley Big Meet,” senior Alex Best said. “This year we went in with a different mentality. We really want to make a name for ourselves and this is the first year that we’ve truly been competitive.”
Junior Ryan Chute finished in 20th place in the men’s one-mile run the night of Feb. 10. Chute clocked a 4:13.87 mile, just three milliseconds from breaking the FSU track and field program’s mile record.
Several students had personal records, which is showing how much the men and women are improving, according to junior Michael Schulte.
“[Personal records] give you hope. It gives you motivation because you know you can push yourself harder,” Schulte said.
The Bulldogs men’s team hopes to display the progress the team has made at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championships which take place Feb. 24-25 in Findlay, Ohio.
“I think we’re going to turn some heads at GLIACs,” Schulte said. “Last year we only had one guy score. This year we’re going to score some points and let people know that we’re here to make a statement.”
Before the GLIAC Championship, the Bulldogs will head back to Allendale to compete in the Grand Valley State Indoor Open. The meet is scheduled for Feb. 17 at 4 p.m.