Jan. 9, 2009

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ALLENDALE, Mich. - Seven Lakers won their events as Grand Valley State University started off the new year with the Laker Early Bird held Thursday and Friday in the new Laker Turf Building. Candice Wheat and Dianna Noonan both broke their own school records at the meet.

Grand Valley State took five of their individual firsts, as well as a relay win, in the running events. Olivia Holwerda's time of 8.06 seconds in the 60-meter dash earned her top billing, while Serena Black was right behind her in second at 8.10 seconds. Black also took third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.72 seconds, while Amber Triner's time of 25.86 seconds was tops in the event.

The Lakers took all three top spots in the 600-meter dash. Katherine McCarthy was first at 1:35.58, followed by Monica Kinney at 1:35.91 and Katie Alfredson at 1:37.35. Rebecca Winchester earned GVSU another top-three finish with her third-place time of 10:09.20 in the 3000-meter run.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Candice Wheat topped the field with a time of 8.53 seconds in the finals with Triner right behind her in second at 8.89 seconds. Wheat's time of 8.53 seconds broke her own school record. Grand Valley State's top relay team also picked up a win in the 1600-meter relay with a time of 4:05.25.

Three more top performances came in the field events. Heather VanderSlik cleared 5'3" in the high jump to claim first place. GVSU dominated the field in the pole vault, claiming first, second and third. Dianna Noonan took first by vaulting 13'1.5", breaking her own school record, followed by Christi Kettelhut and Kellie Kieren, who both went over 11'7.75". In the shotput, Melanie Huhn threw 42'3.5" to win the event, while Jessica Rutherford's distance of 39'7" earned her third place.

Noonan, Wheat and Triner all bettered their own NCAA qualifying marks, while Kettelhut and Kieren hit the provisional marks for the first time this season.