Northern Michigan University track athlete Alizabeth Little poses for a humorous studio photo with one of the props of her speciality, the weight events in the field. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The women’s track and field team at Northern Michigan University heads to its conference championship meet with good momentum after competing at a pair of meets in separate states on the same weekend two weeks ago.

The Wildcats were set to also take part in the Parkside Classic in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last weekend, but the meet was called off due to bad travel weather.

At the Grand Valley State Big Meet downstate and the Ted Nelson Invitational in Minnesota, NMU had numerous podium finishes and even a school record set in the distance medley relay.

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships for indoor track and field will be hosted by Saginaw Valley State in University Center today and Sunday, with the indoor season wrapping up with the NCAA Indoor Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14.

The outdoor season kicks off for Northern at Illinois State on March 27-28 in Normal, Illinois.

Fans can follow @NMU_Track_Field and @NMU_Wildcats on X for updates leading up to and during events, or visit the Northern athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s track schedule for links to live video, live results and a preview.

At last year’s GLIAC indoor meet, the Wildcats placed fourth among nine teams, getting a trio of top-three podium finishes.

Ellyse Wolfrath won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.53 seconds with current NMU team member Crystal Walker placing third in 8.74. Wolfrath ran an even faster 8.46 seconds in the preliminaries to set an NMU record.

In addition, current Wildcat Alayna Vandegriff was third in the triple jump with a jump of 11.27 meters (36 feet, 11 3/4 inches).

Walker was also fourth in the long jump and Sofi Diop fifth, while Kati Smith took fourth in the pole vault. Eva Zonca was fourth in the multi-event pentathlon.

Also, Lamar Gordon was eighth and Ella DeBruyn 13th in the mile, while Beverly Harper was ninth in the 800, Lana Mac taking 11th, and Ishpeming High School graduate Lola Korpi 15th.

At the GVSU Big Meet in Allendale two weeks ago, NMU’s 4,000-meter distance medley relay team set a program record of 11 minutes, 44.49 seconds with Ashley Choponis, Marquette product Baux Truckey, Harper and Madi Szymanski. Even though they only finished fifth in a field that included several NCAA Division I schools, the time was the ninth fastest nationally in Division II this season.

At the Ted Nelson Classic in Mankato, Minnesota, Northern’s Celia Wallace was runner-up in 11:12.61, while DeBruyn was third in the mile in 5:07.00, the same place that Korpi took in the 800 in a personal-best 2:19.37.

And Walker was third in one of her specialties, the 60 hurdles, in 8.91, her second-best ever mark.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.