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Grand Valley State hosted the Eubanks Open on Friday, Jan. 14 to return to action after the holiday break. The Lakers recorded a solid performance on both the men's and women's sides and will host the Mike Lints Laker Challenge on Friday, Jan. 21 in the GVSU Fieldhouse Arena at 5:00 p.m. GVSU Alumni will come back and compete in the 4x400 in honor of former Laker coach Mike Lints. The Lakers will also send 15-20 athletes on both sides to the University of Michigan.
"The Eubanks open was a solid opener for our squads after the long holiday break," said head coach Jerry Baltes. "We have worked very hard the past 10 days so we were a bit tired headed into the first competition of the new year."
"We still saw some very bright spots and some promising futures of our young student athletes. We have a very youg squad so it will take some time for us to get where we are going. We are confident with continued hard work and focus we will get where we are going," Baltes added.
Senior transfer Katie Corner (Calvin College) started her GVSU career of on a high note with a school record and the fourth best toss in the nation in the shot put with a throw of 45-9.25. In addition to her qualifying throw, sophomore Rachel Duthler improved on her NCAA Provisional Mark with a jump of 11-6' in the pole vault.
Junior April Szatkowski recorded two first place finishes. She won the 55 meter dash with a time of 7.54 and the 200 meter dash with a mark of 26.76. Senior Steph Kuhlman won the 400 meter dash with a time of 59.92, while sophomore Jenn O'Shesky placed first in the 55 meter hurdles (8.46), and sophomore Morgan Acre recorded a throw of 16.07m in the weight throw for a first place finish. Junior Pam Treppa tallied first place finishes in both the long jump (17-07.50) and the triple jump (35-11.00).
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On the men's side, John Yabarra had a toss of 54-09.25 to improve on his NCAA Provisional throw from December. Ybarra was an All-American at the NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championships last season in Boston with a fourth place finish as a redshirt freshman.
Sophmore Nick Natale had an impressive night with a double qualifying performance in the shot put and the weight throw. Nick's toss of 57-3.75 is the fourth best in the weight this year, and his 53-3.75 throw in the shot put puts him on the national list as well.
Junior Kenny Coleman won the 200 meter dash (22.79), sophomore John Collins placed first in the mile run with a time of 4:31.87, and junior Mike Salisbury tallied a first place finish in the 600 meter run (1:25.75). Freshman Gerron Licuis won the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 7.85 and sophomore Scott Levering placed first in the pole vault with a mark of 15-00.00.
