ALLENDALE, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's outdoor track and field squad concluded the 2022 GLIAC Championships on Friday afternoon by winning five more conference titles and obliterating the previous school record of 77.83 points by totaling 139.50 points.

QUOTING COACH LOFDAHL
"We knew going in that this team had the opportunity to do something special, but they really exceeded expectations over the past two days.  We talked about how something would go wrong, there are no perfect track meets, but that how we responded would dictate our performance.  I could not be any prouder of this group of young women and what they accomplished.

"Makayla Sumrall faced adversity this weekend and showed her character by winning two titles and setting a meet record.  Mikayla Williams did a tremendous job, scoring 23.5 points with two victories and a school record in triple jump.  Aliyah McDonald concluded her GLIAC career with seven great performances in seven conference meets, and a huge personal record in the 100 hurdles.  Kenzie Wellner had a fantastic meet with an upset win and school record in the 400 hurdles.

"Our throwers had a breakthrough meet, led by MaKayla Rawls and our hammer throwers, and Teanna McCuaig in the javelin.  The distance runners stepped up as well, with podium finishes from Thailyia Christensen and Reagan Justice and a great 5K from Ash Defrain.

"The icing on the cake was a phenomenal race and GLIAC title by our 4x400 relay team -- Yasmine Affes, Renae Kutcha, Abby Dunn and Kenzie Wellner all stepped up to end the meet in style.  Our coaching staff pours their hearts into this team, and it meant to a lot to us for our GLIAC colleagues to vote us as staff of the year.  As a whole, this has been an amazing season, and we certainly are not done yet!"

TEAM STANDINGS
WSU moved up one spot to finish second with 139.50 points.  Grand Valley State won the team title with 249.50 points.  Behind the Warriors were Saginaw Valley State (128), Davenport (114), Northern Michigan (68), Wisconsin-Parkside (37) Michigan Tech (25), Northwood (21.5), Lake Superior State (17) and Ferris State (16.50).

4X100M RELAY
The Friday running events began with the WSU quartet of senior Aliyah McDonald (Kingston, Jamaica), junior Makayla Sumrall (Roseville, Mich.), senior Yasmine Affes (Northville, Mich.) and freshman Kay-Lee McSwain (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) finishing third in a time of 48.09 to earn six points.  It was the sixth-fastest time in school history.

1500M
Freshman Emily Gordon (Northville, Mich.) placed eighth in the finals with a time of 4:49.14 to earn another point for the Warriors.

100M HURDLES
McDonald accumalated another five points for WSU with a fourth-place finish in the 100m hurdles crossing the finish line in 14.71.

400M DASH
Freshman Renae Kutcha (Jackson, Mich. / Lumen Christi) finished sixth in a time of 59.35 to garner three points.

100M DASH
The dynamic duo of Sumrall and McDonald continued their impressive Championships in the 100m dash with Sumrall winning the event in an NCAA Provisional time of 11.89, while McDonald placed fifth in a time of 12.63 to earn 14 points for the Warriors.

400M HURDLES
Freshman Makenzie Wellner (Menominee, Mich.) became WSU's second conference champion of the day by winning the finals in a school-record time of 1:03.32.  Sophomore Abigail Dunn (Northville, Mich.) posted a personal-best time of 1:04.88 to finish fourth and garner another five points.  Dunn's time was the fourth-fastest in program history.  Freshman Parys Smith (Keego Harbor, Mich. / West Bloomfield) placed ninth in a time of 1:07.78.

200M DASH
Sumrall won her second GLIAC title of the afternoon winning the 200m dash in an NCAA Provisional time of 24.34.  McDonald contributed four points with her fifth-place finish in 25.54.

TRIPLE JUMP
Junior MIkayla Williams (St. Charles, Mich.) claimed her second GLIAC title of the championships winning the triple jump at a school-record distance of 11.80m, which came on her first attempt.  In addition, junior Morgan Witzgall (Auburn, Mich. / Bay City Western) placed fifth with a best jump of 10.79m, which came on her fourth attempt.

DISCUS
The Wayne State duo of freshman Jasmine Correa (West Olive, Mich. / Holland West Ottawa) and junior MaKayla Rawls (Detroit, Mich. / Birmingham Seaholm) finished seventh and eighth, respectively.  Correa had a season-best by over two meters on her second attempt with a toss of 41.45m, which ranks second in school history and is the best by a Warrior thrower in five years.  Rawls best distance (38.29m) also came her on second attempt.  Senior Kaleigh Flowers (Grand Rapids, Mich. / East Kentwood) placed 17th with a throw of 32.77m.

HIGH JUMP
Williams tied-for-fifth clearing 1.53m (5-0.25).

5,000M
Wayne State added six points to its team total as senior Ashley Defrain (Fort Gratiot, Mich. / Port Huron Northern) finished fourth (17:41.64) and junior Charlene Yarema (Romeo, Mich.) placed eighth (17:59.45).  In addition, freshman Mattie Drennan (Clarkston, Mich.) crossed the finish line in 18:46.10 to finish 15th.

SHOT PUT
Correa placed 10th with a best throw of 11.56m, while sophomore Kaylee Price (Brownsburg, Ind.) finished 11th with a best toss of 11.08m.

4X400M RELAY
The Warrior quartet of Affes, Kutcha, Dunn and Wellner completed the championships winning the 4x400m relay in 3:53.73, the fourth-fastest time in program history and the fastest in more than six years.

The 94.5 points recorded by WSU on day two of the league championships was greater than a previous championships with both days combined.

UP NEXT
Selected Warriors may be competing in Last Chance Meets over the next week, while awaiting word on the NCAA Championship Meet selections.