ALLENDALE, Mich. – Lewis University's men's and women's track and field teams recorded four NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks in its first meet of the season at the Grand Valley State Holiday Open on Friday (Dec. 3) in Allendale, Mich. The Flyer women turned in three of those performances while the men added one.
"I thought we competed really hard against some great Division I and Division II national opponents," Lewis head men's and women's track and field coach
Dana Schwarting said. "We had well over half of our team record lifetime or indoor personal best marks.
"I hope we bring the same energy at the Olivet Nazarene meet tomorrow in the field events and keep this momentum going."
Jada Hoffman (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood Academy) recorded two of those provisional marks as she finished third in the 60 meters with a time of 7.60 seconds. She finished behind Michigan State's Brooke Bogan and Ava Qe'Neis Young in the finals. Hoffman won her preliminary heat with a time of 7.62 seconds.
She came back later in the evening to win the 200 meters in a time of 24.78 seconds which was a personal best for by 0.41 seconds and is the third fastest in school history.
Natasha Bernett (McAlpin, Ill./Lane Tech) picked up the other provisional mark for the women finishing second in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.73 seconds which is a personal best for her by 0.10 seconds and third fastest in school history.
Vivica Phillips (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South HS) and
Kyla Chalmers (Elk Grove Village, Ill./James B. Conant) finished seventh and ninth in the 400 meters with times of 59.56 and 59.76 seconds respectively.
Nadia Roberts (Burbank, Ill./Burbank (Reavis)) finished in a tie for sixth in the high jump clearing the bar at 1.59 meters (5'2.5").
Lewis' 4x400 meter relay team of Phillips, Bernett,
Faith Wyman (Trenton, Ill./Trenton (Wesclin)) and Chalmers finished fifth with a time of 3:57.81.
On the men's side,
Anthony Farmer (Elgin, Ill./Burlington Central) picked up the provisional mark in the 5000 meters winning the second heat in a time of 14:22.89. His time is fourth best in school history.
Daniel Arimi (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) also won his heat in the 5000 meters with a time of 14:37.07 while
Jacob Hinchley (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) and
Ricardo Del Toro (Aurora, Ill./Aurora East) finished fifth and sixth in their heat with times of 15:04.34 and 15:09.97 respectively.
Connor Wagner (Elgin, Ill./Burlington Central) finished seventh in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.41 seconds.
Jacoby Jones (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) took seventh in the 400 meters with a mark of 50.35 seconds.
The Flyers had two top 10 performances in the 200 meters with Angelo Vassilakis finishing third with a time of 22.20 while
Andrew Mykulanych (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove) came in ninth at 22.48 seconds. Vassilakis' time is tied for ninth fastest in school history.
Justin Rivers (Bolingbrook, IL/) was the runner up in the high jump clearing the bar at 1.99 meters (6'6.25").
Lewis returns to the track on Saturday (Dec. 4) as they compete at the Olivet Nazarene Holiday Open beginning at 10 a.m. in Bourbonnais, Ill.
