Women's track team wins four events at GVSU
Brian ManzulloFreshman sprinter Dierra Riley set a personal record in the 60-meter dash as the women's track team took four first-place finishes in the Grand Valley Big Meet this weekend.
Riley, one of the first-place finishers, completed the dash in 7.58 seconds. Junior sprinter Cara Dukes also posted a new personal best, winning the 200m dash with a time of 25.16.
"I think our team turned in our best performance of the season," said Sarah Squires, a junior distance runner. "We knew that we needed to get some fast times and also good jumps and throws out there. This was our last big meet before the Mid-American Conference Championships and everyone was really focused."
Senior distance runner Kelly McClure took first place in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:21.13. Sophomore thrower Norianna Brown won the shot put event with a new personal best of 48 feet, 8 inches, winning the event.
Dukes also had a strong performance in the 400m, placing second in a time of 56:34 to go along with her first-place finish in the 200m. The Chippewas had a one-two finish in the 3000m run as sophomore distance runner Danielle Dakroub finished runner-up to McClure with a time of 10:22.76.
Some other notable top-five finishes for the Chippewas included sophomore middle distance runner Raeanne Lohner, who took third in the 800m with a time of 2:16.30 and sophomore hurdler Shanaye Carr, who took third in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.88 seconds.
Next weekend, the Chippewas come back home for their last home indoor meet of the season. They host the Jack Skoog Open at 5 p.m. Friday at the Jack Skoog Indoor Track. It will be the final meet for the Chippewas before the MAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 27 and 28.
"Coach Lutzke has our practices scheduled so that we make sure we have a strong week of practice this week," said junior high jumper Tanisha Johnson. "We will go hard this week and have a more rested week of practice to prepare for the championships in two weeks."
The team wants to continue build up their form in time for the MAC meet.
"Next weekend we are going to be able to use the Jack Skoog open as a tune up," Squires said. "We want to make sure we are as prepared as we can be to surprise some teams in the MAC at the championship in two weeks."
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