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February 25, 2003
USI track and field gearing up for GLVC Indoor Championships
GLVC Performance List
The University of Southern Indiana track and field team is gearing up for the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships. The Screaming Eagles will compete in the meet this Saturday, March 1, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
USI’s women’s squad should be strong as it has a pair of individual performers ranked at the top of their respective events as well as the top distance medley relay team in the conference. The women also have a handful of performers that rank in the top two or three of their respective events.
Leading the list of top performers is a pair of freshman, middle distance runner Heather Cooksey (Brownsburg, Indiana) and high jumper Abbey Boberg (Bicknell, Indiana). Cooksey has posted the conference’s top time in the mile (5:00.07 at the DePauw Classic) while Boberg ranks third in the country in the high jump with her 5 foot 8 inch leap at the Tiger Invitational. Cooksey is 12th amongst NCAA Division II milers.
While it is uncertain which event junior distance runner Jenny Farmer (Princeton, Indiana) will compete in, the former GLVC indoor champion in the mile ranks second in the GLVC in the 3,000 meters as well as the 800 meters and is third in both the mile and the 5,000 meters.
Freshman middle distance runner/high jumper Ashleigh Griechen (Valparaiso, Indiana) ranks third in the GLVC in the high jump with her 5 foot 2.25 inch leap at the DePauw Classic.
The women’s squad also is hoping that sophomore distance runner Casey Schneider (New Salisbury, Indiana) makes a healthy return. She finished fifth in the 5,000 meters at last year’s GLVC Indoor Championships.
USI’s men’s squad will be strong, particularly in the mile, the 3,000 meters, and the 5,000 meters. The Eagles sport three of the top six runners in the mile, three of the top five in the 3,000 meters, and two of the top five in the 5,000 meters.
Leading the charge for the Eagles in the mile is a pair of freshman, Eric Fleming (Valparaiso, Indiana) and Jake England (Valparaiso, Indiana), and a sophomore, Doug Schwartz (Centralia, Illinois). Fleming and Schwartz rank third and fourth, respectively, while England is sixth in the league.
Schwartz also ranks second in the GLVC in the 3,000 meters. Junior distance runner Joey Byrne (Georgetown, Indiana) ranks fourth in the 3,000 meters while Fleming is sixth in the GLVC.
Byrne is USI’s top competitor in the 5,000 meters. In the GLVC, he ranks fourth in the competition while fellow classmate Mark Thurner (Hebron, Indiana) is fifth in the GLVC in the 5,000 meters.
USI’s relay teams also could provide points on Saturday. The Eagles are second in the GLVC in the men’s distance medley relay and fifth in the 4x200 meter relay.
The GLVC Championships will mark the last chance for competitors to qualify or solidify their marks for the NCAA II Championships. Boberg, Cooksey, and Farmer are the only USI competitors to have posted provisional qualifying marks.
The NCAA II National Championships are scheduled for Friday, March 14, through Saturday, March 15, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information
