It came down to the final race at the GLVC Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships but the seventh ranked Lewis women’s track and field team emerged victorious defeating Indianapolis by 1.5 points in the closest finish ever in the history of the event.
It’s the fifth GLVC Indoor Track and Field Championship in six years for the Flyers and seventh in the program’s history.
“We knew with Allie (Heinzer) being a question mark the women were going to need every point we could muster,” Lewis head women’s track and field coach Dana Schwarting said. “It was a lot closer then I would have preferred, but UIndy was an unbelievable opponent and brought out the best in us. I am so proud of this group.”
Lewis led the Greyhounds by 9.5 points with two events left. The ‘Hounds got 10 points from Lauren Bailey in the 3,000 meters to surge back ahead of the Flyers by half a point heading into the 4×400 meter relay which was the final event of the meet.
Lewis needed to finish ahead of UIndy to win the title and that they did finishing second in the event to pick up eight points while the Greyhounds finished third to earn six points.
The Flyer foursome of Vivica Phillips (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South HS), Teresa Zaragueta (Spain), Cierra Pulliam (Plainfield, Ill./Romeoville) and Ashleigh Macleod (Mishawaka, IN/Penn) finished in a time of 3:58.25 which was nearly a full second ahead of Indianapolis.
Heading into the third leg of the race the Flyers led the Greyhounds by nearly seconds as Lewis was second and UIndy was in fourth. Kerigan Ertel moved the ‘Hounds into third with a time of 58.202 seconds in her leg to close the margin to less than half a second heading into the anchor leg.
In the anchor leg, Macleod and Yailene Leon battled it out but Macleod pulled away down the home stretch running her leg in a time of 57.745 seconds to give Lewis the conference championship.
The Flyers had several event winners at the conference championships with Pulliam adding four more events on Sunday to finish with five for the weekend.
After winning the long jump on Saturday, she won the triple jump with a leap of 41’3.25”, she also won the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.58 seconds which was good for a provisional qualifying mark, she took first in the 200 meter dash in a time of 24.90 seconds and was a member of the 4×400 meter relay team. Pulliam was named the GLVC’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
Lane Kadlec (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) and Kylie Wymer (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) finished second and sixth respectively in the shot put. Kadlec’s heave of 47’2.50” was good for a provisional qualifying mark while Wymer had a toss of 42’9”.
Zaragueta finished in a tie for fifth in the high jump clearing a height of 5’1.75”. Jamie Poppen (Ballwin, Mo./Parkway West) took eighth in the pole vault clearing a height of 10’10.75”.
Joelle Ataessien (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young HS), Natasha Bernett () and Azana Clark-Jordan (Plano, Ill./Whitney Young HS) finished third, fourth and sixth respectively in the 60 meter hurdles. Ataessien finished at 9.05 seconds while Bernett crossed the line at 9.12 seconds and Clark-Jordan finished at 9.53 seconds.
Joining Pulliam in the 60 meter dash was Jada Hoffman (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood Academy) in second at 7.63 seconds which is a provisional mark. Carrie Johnson (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake HS) was sixth at 7.96 seconds and Ataessien finished eighth at 7.995 seconds.
Along with Pulliam in the 200 meters, Hoffman finished third at 25.54 seconds, Ataessien was fifth at 25.66 seconds and Johnson finished seventh at 26.14 seconds.
Zaragueta, Phillips and Chalmers combined to score 13 points the 400 meters. Zaragueta was second at 58.65 seconds while Phillips finished fifth at 1:00.06 and Chalmers was eighth running a 1:02.00.
Macleod took home the gold in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:13.52 defeating McKendree’s Quincy McSweeney for the title.
Schwarting was named the GLVC Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year and Allison Heinzer (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland HS) was the recipient of the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship award.