Northwest Wayne News

The Wayne State University women's indoor track and field team is set to compete in the 2024 GLIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend. The event will take place at the SVSU Fieldhouse, starting on Saturday and concluding on Sunday.

Coach Lofdahl expressed the challenges his team faces: "The competition at the GLIAC Championships is always stiff, and this year it's going to be really tough. Particularly on the track side of things, there are a number of events where it will be extremely difficult to score a lot of points."

Saturday's schedule begins with the Women's Pentathlon at 10 a.m., featuring WSU sophomore Idalia Shadhaya who is seeded sixth. Running events start at 2:50 p.m., followed by field events at 3 p.m. Freshman Makayla Stewart will participate in the women's weight throw, while Annabelle Smith, Nicole Warren, and Mikayla Williams will compete in the long jump.

In running preliminaries on Saturday, Richelle Cotter and Keneisha Thomas will race in the 60m hurdles. Renae Kutcha leads WSU entries in the 400m dash, with Avery Wilson and Elyse Miller also competing. Mikaela Owen heads into the 60m dash ranked fifth.

Junior Reagan Justice is slated for the 5,000m timed final with a provisional time already secured. In addition, Hanne Bastiaansen will run in the 200m dash prelims alongside Thompson and Owen.

The Distance Medley Relay concludes Saturday's events with Rachel Felstow, Thomas, Anna Gdowski, and Thailyia Christensen representing WSU.

Sunday's events include high jump, shot put, triple jump finals as well as finals for previously held preliminaries. Nevaeh Branson competes in high jump while Stewart participates in shot put. Williams returns for triple jump after last year's runner-up finish.

Finals for other running events like the 800m timed final feature Felstow and Gdowski among others. The day wraps up with WSU participating in both individual races like the 3K timed final featuring Justice and Briana Vojinov along with relays such as the concluding 4x400m relay.

Coach Lofdahl remains optimistic about his team's performance: "Our team is made up of Warriors in more ways than one... We are grateful for the opportunity to compete against the best."