March 1, 2007
By Morgan Schneider
Collegian Reporter

The men’s and women’s track teams closed their regular indoor conference season impressively last weekend at Saginaw Valley State University, where the men’s team finished third overall and the women placed sixth.

Several Chargers improved their national qualifying marks this weekend and freshman Jared Krout and sophomore Jazmin Williams were accepted to compete at the NCAA competition, which will be held in Boston on March 2 and 3. Krout will be competing in 3 events: long jump, and the 200- and 400- meter dashes. Williams will compete in the 400. Six other Chargers athletes were provisional qualifiers but were not accepted into the meet.

Krout dominated the field for the Chargers by winning three events. He set a school record with his first place finish in the 200 with a time of 21.88. He broke a school record again in the 400 with his first place time of 48.38. Additionally, Krout placed first in the long jump.

“He’s setting some marks that are amazing, like qualifying for three events in the national meet,” head coach Bill Lundberg said. “For him to be a freshman and the youngest athlete in each of these events, ranked in the top 10 in the nation, is incredible.”

Krout was named both Freshman Athlete of the Year and Men's Track Athlete of the Year in the GLIAC.

“It’s great to finally have had the chance to do everything we’ve trained for all season,” Krout said. “It was nice to see it pay off.”

Junior Josh Hutchison placed first in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.48, allowing the men’s team to sweep the sprints.

Senior Peter Sercer placed third in the 3000-meter dash with a time of 8:39.17. Fellow senior Lewis Butler followed him to finish fifth with a time of 8:42.12. Butler also finished third in the 5000.

Other highlights for the men’s team included the men’s distance medley team finishing second and sophomore Shawn McKinstry finished sixth in the 800- meter with a time of 1:56.29. Freshman Travis Tamez finished fifth in the 200 with a time of 22.77. Andrew Dodson placed second in high jump and freshman Sam Heisman finished fifth.

For the women’s track team, sophomore standout Williams finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.43 and placed fourth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.36.

Senior captain Alissa Hall placed third in the 3000-meter race with a time of 10:17.13 and fourth in the 5000-meter dash with a time of 17:38.82.

Freshman Katie Hunt placed fourth in both the 55-meter hurdles and long jump with a time of 8.47 and a mark of 5.62 meters, respectively.

Freshman Anna Leutheuser placed seventh in the weight throw with a mark of 15.62 meters.

Lundberg was named Men’s Coach of the Year, becoming the first GLIAC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Coach to win an impressive six Coach of the Year awards.

“All these coaches are sharing it with me,” Lundberg said with a smile, indicating his staff.

The Chargers are not scheduled to compete this weekend, instead using the time to rest up and prepare for nationals.