The men’s and women’s track and field teams spent their weekend in Allendale at the GVSU Big Meet, performing well enough to bring some impressive finishes and qualifying marks home to Saginaw Valley.

On the first day of competition, Friday, Feb. 14, the women’s team earned three NCAA  Division II provisional marks.

The first came from senior Diamond Taylor as she crossed the finish line of the 400 meter dash in 57.16 seconds.

The second qualifying mark came soon after, when junior Emily Short finished the 3,000 meter run with a time of 9:42.13.

Junior Emerald Joiner, too, hit a provisional qualifying mark in the shot put competition. She threw for 13.58 meters.

For the men’s team, freshman Brady Watson took sixth in the triple jump with a height of 13.09 meters.

On the second day of competition, Feb. 15, the men of Saginaw Valley were able to come alive and take a tighter hold of their competition.

The men’s 4×400 meter relay team cinched second place with a time of 3:20.72. Juniors James Walker and Travis Toye, sophomore Josh Simmons and freshman Andrew Mudd were just .57 seconds shy of first place.

Toye and Middleton then joined seniors Joey Burelle and DaJuawn Wallace to secure fourth place in the distance medley, clocking a time of 10:10.44.

Junior Robert Tarpley leapt for 12.63 meters in the triple jump, placing fourth.

On the women’s side, freshmen Anna Fochesato, Bria Williams, Domonique Smith and Tierra Williams dominated.

Fochesato posted the day’s only provisional mark in the high jump, while simultaneously setting a school record. She posted a height of 1.73 meters in that event, later clearing 11.37 meters in the triple jump. That earned her third place in that event.

Smith then followed Fochesato’s performance with a spectacular fifth-place finish. She scored a time of 7.93 seconds in the 60-meter dash.

The two Williams then nabbed fifth and sixth places in the 60 meter hurdles.  Bria marked a time of 9.22 seconds, while Tierra finished on her tail, managing 9.23 seconds.

The men and women Cardinals will not compete again until March 1 at the GLIAC Indoor Championships.