Track and Field Teams Set Multiple School Records To Open Indoor Season at SVSU
UNIVERSITY CENTER, MICH. – The Northwood University track and field teams opened the 2015-16 indoor season at the Saginaw Valley State Holiday Classic on Friday afternoon (December 4).
There was no team scoring in the meet, featuring Saginaw Valley State, Siena Heights, Alma, Lake Superior State, Wayne State, Central Michigan, Oakland, among others.
Leading the way for the Timberwolves was senior All-American Jeremy Wilchcombe (Freeport, Bahamas / St. Georges). After earning All-American honors last spring, Wilchcombe won the triple jump with a provisional qualifying mark of 14.56 meters, while also breaking his own school record of 14.44 meters last year. The NCAA provisional standard is 14.28 meters, while the automatic qualifying mark is 15.47 meters. Tray Thompson (Fort Worth, Tx. / Duncanville) ran 1:55.64 in the 800 meters for fourth place, while thrower Paul Evans (Lenox, Mich. / New Haven) finished fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 16.37 meters. Sophomore John King(Mesick, Mich. / Mesick) took seventh in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.42. Kyle Vandersyde (Hopkins, Mich. / Hopkins) ran 8.63 in the prelims before finishing eighth at 8.65 in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles. Exhildi Prekaj (Walled Lake, Mich. / Central) registered 14.21 meters in the shot put and 13.92 meters in the weight throw for ninth and tenth place finishes, respectively. Alexander McIntosh (Miami, Fla. / Norlends) threw the shot put 14.09 meters for tenth place. The 4x400 meter relay team of King, Jordan Fields (Lauderhill, Fla. / Blanche Ely), Thompson and Wilchcombe finished third at 3:21.18.
On the women's side, Elaina Meadows (Schoolcraft, Mich. / Schoolcraft) tied the fieldhouse and broke the Northwood record with a mark of 5.84 meters in the long jump for first place. The jump breaks Danielle Miller's jump of 5.61 meters back in 2006 for the Timberwolves. She also finished eighth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 26.49. Sophomore Kara Young(Zephyrhills, Fla. / Zephyrhills) finished third in the 60 meter dash at 7.77, after running 7.76 in the prelims. Dana Turner (Maywood, Ill. / Walther Lutheran) finished third in the long jump at 5.27 meters, while Hunter Perry (Moran, Mich. / Rudyard) threw 16.26 meters in the weight throw for sixth place and a personal best – which is second in school history. Heaven Powell(Port Huron, Mich. / Port Huron) jumped 1.53 meters in the high jump and Carly D'Almeida(Harrison Township, Mich. / Macomb CC) threw the shot put 11.23 meters to both finish tenth. The 4x400 meter relay team of Darci Asel Templin (Essexville, Mich. / Garber), Young, Drew Findlay (Reese, Mich. / Reese) and Madison Arnouts (Grand Ledge, Mich. / Grand Ledge) ran 4:06.10 for a fifth place finish.
The Timberwolves will take a break over Christmas vacation and return to action at the Aquinas College Quad Meet in Grand Rapids, Mich. on January 15.