Sprinters lead track and field teams at Al Owens Classic

Weaver breaks the school record in the men's 1,500-meter run

ALLENDALE, Mich. – The sprinters led the Olivet College men's and women's track and field teams today at the Grand Valley State University/Al Owens Classic in Allendale. The classic featured NCAA Division I, II and III schools, NAIA schools and NJCAA schools in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, as well as unattached athletes. More than 3,500 spectators and fans were in attendance.

For the women, season-best times in the sprints were turned in by junior Becca Gaarde (Parma/Western) in the 100-meter dash (:13.36) and 200-meter dash (:27.10), sophomore Jenna Mayle (Ionia) in the 100-meter dash (:13.97), freshman Brandi Rimmer (Flint/Carman Ainsworth) in the 200-meter dash (:26.70) and 400-meter dash (1:00.52), and sophomore Rachael Wagner (Clinton Twp./Fraser) in the 200-meter dash (:27.68).

Senior Caitlin Lohr (Holland/Hamilton) ran the 400-meter hurdles for the first time this season and finished in 1:13.04.

For the men, freshman Billyle Alman (Lansing/Okemos), senior Trevor Tyler (Roscommon) and freshman Henry Pettway (East Lansing) all posted season-best times of 22.79, 22.93 and 23.11 seconds, respectively in the 200-meter dash. Other season-best times were turned in by sophomore Conner Plagens (South Lyon) in the 1,500-meter run (4:19.38) and freshman Andrew Benkovsky (Eaton Rapids) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:28.11).

Freshman Jalen Weaver (Albion) broke the school record in the 1,500-meter run by one-hundredth of a second. His time of 4:12.78 broke Dan Kimball's time of 4:12.79 in 2003.The 4x100-meter relay team of Tyler, Pettway, Alman and senior James Williams (Battle Creek/Central) stopped the clock at a season-best time of 43.05 seconds.

No season-best performances were done by the Comets in the field events.

Olivet will travel to Hillsdale College next Friday and Saturday, April 27-28, to compete at the "Gina" Relays.