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Printer-Friendly ModeMen 23rd in the country
Track
February 15, 2010 —
The SVSU indoor track men’s team, ranked No. 23 in the latest Division II polls, showed its worth last weekend at the highly competitive Grand Valley State University BIG Meet, bringing home NCAA provisional qualifying times in four events.
A Provisional Qualifier means that a runner ran faster than a certain time, though not fast enough to achieve an automatic qualifier. An automatic Qualifier allows the runner achieving it to automatically be entered into the NCAA indoor championships. If not enough runners get automatic qualifiers, the field then is filled with the next fastest runners who achieved provisional qualifiers.
The BIG Meet is a “very elite meet with some of the best teams from everywhere around the country,” said Senior Miler Derek Stone. “We only took seven men to the meet.”
Competing in the Mile Run, Stone clocked 4:11.7, good for 16th place and a provisional qualifying time.
Breaking his own school record en route to a provisional qualifier of his own was senior distance runner Steve Genther. Competing in the 5,000 meters, Genther finished in 15th place with a time of 14:32.
The last individual provisional qualifier for Saginaw Valley came from senior half-miler Tony Filipek. Competing in the 800 meters, Filipek ran 1:52.9,while also recording the highest individual finish of the day.
The highest finish of the meet came from the combined efforts of Filipek, Stone, junior Marion Body, and senior Charlie Richards. Running the Distance Medley Relay, which consists of each runner taking the baton for one of four distances: 400 meters, 800 meters, 1200 meters, and the mile. Finishing .14 behind first, the second-place Cardinals clocked 9:58, good enough for another NCAA provisional qualifying time.
Also competing in the meet for the Cardinals were sophomore Nick Ekel (5000m, 34th place, 14:57) and senior Cortland Seaver (5000m, 40th place, 15:00). Competing in the mile with Stone, Body finished in 36th place with a time of 4:19.
The Cardinals next meet is Friday, Feb. 19 when they will be in Mount Pleasant for the Central Michigan Open.