Phillips Leads Track & Field's Record Breaking Weekend At GLIAC Championships

OVERVIEW: 2018 GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships

EVENT: 2018 GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships  - Hosted by Grand Valley State

LOCATION: Kelly Family Sports Center – Allendale, Mich.

RECAP: Mason Phillips led the charge for the Northwood Track & Field teams at the 2018 GLIAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Saturday and Sunday (February 24-25). The Timberwolves set four school records and five NCAA provisional marks over the two-day meet.

INSIDE THE MEET 

PHILLIPS HAS BANNER WEEKEND

• Freshman Mason Phillips had an extraordinary weekend at his first GLIAC Indoor Championships with two school records and three new NCAA provisional qualifying marks, en route to earning Freshman Track Athlete of the Meet at the concusion of the meet.
• First, Phillips broke the school record in the long jump on his third attempt with an improved NCAA provisional mark at 7.53 meters/24 feet-8.5 inches to advance to finals; however, he passed on his final three jumps to run the preliminaries of the 200 meter dash. His mark stood for an All-GLIAC finish of second place.
• Phillips's mark of 7.53 meters surpassed the previous school record of 7.50 meters set by Henry Russell in 1995. His mark slots him seventh on the NCAA Division II performance list and will compete at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
• Phillips broke the 200 meter dash school record twice – the first came in the preliminaries, clocking a time of 21.71 seconds to surpass the old school record of 21.76 seconds set by Darrin Tape in 2006. He then smashed his own school record in the finals by running 21.51 seconds for an All-GLIAC finish of third place and a new NCAA provisional mark.
• His weekend doesn't stop there. Phillips ran two personal bests in the 60 meter dash over the course of the weekend. He clocked 6.91 seconds to advance to finals on Saturday, then finished third in the event finals with a blazing 6.84 seconds for a new NCAA provisional mark and earning All-GLIAC honors. He now sits fourth all-time in Northwood school history.

EVANS STANDS STRONG AGAINST LOADED WEIGHT THROW FIELD

• Paul Evans smashed his own school record and improved upon his previous NCAA provisional mark, finishing fourth in the weight throw with a top mark of 19.83 meters/65 feet-0.75 inches on his last attempt of the day. Evans now sits in 12^th on the NCAA Division II performance list and is set compete at the NCAA National Championships.
• To highlight the strength of the GLIAC in the men's weight, Evans finished fourth in one of the best competitions in the history of the GLIAC Indoor Championships that featured five of the Top 8 men's weight throwers in NCAA Division II this year. Evans finished behind Alex Hill and Brent Fairbanks of Ashland, who now rank third and seventh all-time in NCAA Division II history in the weight throw after finishing 1-2 this weekend, and Cody Stilwell of Ferris State, who is ranked fifth in the NCAA this year.

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

• The men's distance medley relay team of freshman Trestin Mancillas-Finnerty, senior John King, freshman Michael Allen, and freshman Brian Patrick finished fourth with a time of 10:14.19 to give the Timberwolves. The team sits in second in school history.
• The men's mile saw two Timberwolves finish in the Top 8. Patrick finished sixth in 4:15.79 and Mancillas-Finnerty finished eighth in 4:17.91. Both men sit in second and fifth all-time in school history in the event, respectively.
• Sophomore Austin Hamlet joined Phillips in the 60 meter dash finals and had his first career GLIAC scoring performance with a seventh place finish in 7.07 seconds. Hamlet advanced to the finals by virtue of his eighth place finish in the prelims, running 7.01 seconds for a personal best.
• Allen stole a point in the men's 800 meter finals, clocking a new lifetime best of 1:56.48 to win the second heat out of three and finished eighth overall in the event.
• Freshman Dylan Rocha now holds the new 3,000 meter standard at Northwood University after recording a time of 8:33.99. His time is a 10-second personal best and breaks the previous school record of 8:39.86 set by Patrick earlier this indoor season.
• The Northwood men finished in fifth place in the team standings with 40 points. This was the highest team finish for the Timberwolves since 2008 when they finished fifth with 49 points.

WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

• Senior Carly D'Almeida had her first scoring performance in her career with a fifth place finish in the weight throw that featured five of the Top 20 women's weight throwers in NCAA Division II this year. Her top mark of 17.86 meters/58 feet-7.25 inches came on her last attempt of the day to once again surpass the NCAA provisional standard.
• D'Almeida is currently sitting 14^th on the NCAA Division II performance list and will compete at the NCAA National Championships.
• Senior Kara Young advanced to the finals of the 60 meter dash after finishing eighth in the preliminaries with a season best effort of 7.82 seconds. Young concluded her indoor career as a three-time place winner for the Timberwolves in the event, including her third place All-GLIAC finish in last year's race (7.62 seconds).
• Freshman Jessica Marvin finished eighth in the finals of the women's shot put with a throw of 11.72 meters/38 feet-5.5 inches for her first GLIAC scoring effort of her young career. Marvin also set a new personal best in the weight throw with a mark of 15.72 meters.
• The Northwood women finished in ninth place in the team standings.

NORTHWOOD'S NCAA PROVISIONAL MARKS TO-DATE

• 60 meter dash – Mason Phillips – 6.84 seconds (#28)
• 60 meter hurdles – Rami Gharsalli – 7.93 seconds (#6)
• 200 meter dash – Mason Phillips – 21.51 seconds (#22)
• Long jump – Mason Phillips – 7.53 meters (#7)
• Weight throw – Paul Evans – 19.83 meters (#12)
• Weight throw – Carly D'Almeida – 18.45 meters (#14)

UP NEXT

The list of accepted entries for the NCAA National Championships will be released Tuesday (February 27). The 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held in Pittsburg, Kansas Friday-Saturday (March 9-10), hosted by Pittsburg State University.