Northwest Wayne News

The Wayne State University women's indoor track and field team finished fifth at the 2024 GLIAC Indoor Championships held in University Center, Michigan. The squad accumulated a total of 62 points, marking the fourth-highest score in program history.

In the overall team standings, Grand Valley State led with 250.5 points, followed by Saginaw Valley State with 102 points and Northern Michigan with 97 points. Parkside came in fourth place with 63.5 points, narrowly ahead of Wayne State's 62 points.

Coach Lofdahl commented on the team's performance: "We did a lot of good things over the past two days, but we couldn't really put it all together as a team. The competition on the track was intense, a significant step up from the past few years of GLIAC Indoor Championships."

One of the highlights for Wayne State was their victory in the 4x400m relay. Coach Lofdahl praised his athletes saying, "The biggest highlight of the meet was certainly the 4x400 relay getting a three-peat victory and crushing the school record." The team consisted of Elyse Miller, Keneisha Thomas, Renae Kutcha, and Avery Wilson.

In individual events, Mikayla Williams secured second place in triple jump despite not being fully healthy. Bri Vojinov also delivered an excellent performance in the 3K race to become number two in school history.

Other notable performances included Mikaela Owen achieving a personal record in the 200m and finishing fifth in the 60m dash finals. Avery Wilson recorded one of her best times in six years during her fourth-place finish in the 400m dash finals.

Reflecting on their overall standing at fifth place, Coach Lofdahl stated: "The outcome...was not what we wanted," yet expressed optimism about future competitions: "...this crew has a great collective attitude and they'll bounce back for outdoor season."

Wayne State will begin its outdoor season at the end of March.