Milwaukee's Johnson, Detroit's Marchant, Oakland's Vitella, Valparaiso's Peters Earn #HLTF Weekly Honors

INDIANAPOLIS – Milwaukee junior Marquis Johnson (Lac du Flambeau, Wis.) and Detroit senior Shannon Marchant (London, Ontario, Canada) have been named Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Runners of the Week while Oakland junior Gino Vitella (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and Valparaiso junior Sarah Peters (LaGrange, Ill.) have been named Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Athletes of the Week for the period of Jan. 20-26.

Johnson secured runner of the week honors for the second time in as many weeks. At the Tierney Triangular, the junior was a double winner in both the 300-meter dash (34.62) and the 600-meter dash (1:20:07). His time in the 300-meter dash broke the school and Klotsche Center record.

At the IPFW Duals, Marchant won her season debut in the 800-meter run. Her time of 2:21:11 best the field by over 2 seconds. She also anchored the 4x400 relay team that finished in first-place, crossing the finish line in 4:01.90.

Vitella registered the top shot put distance in the League this season at the Mastodon Duals. His toss of 16.50 meters was also the tops at the meet. This marks the second week in a row an Oakland student-athlete secured athlete of the week honors.

Like Oakland, this marks the second time in the last two weeks a Valparaiso student-athlete has earned athlete of the week honors. Peters shattered the IPFW Dual pole vault meet record (3.20 meters) with a mark of 3.50 meters. The mark is tops in the League by .10 meters.

Valparaiso and Milwaukee compete next on Jan. 30 at the Findlay Open and the Tadd Metzler Invite, respectively, while Oakland and Detroit return to action Jan. 31 at the SVSU Jet’s Pizza Invite.

Other Top Athletes of the Week:
Colin Cashner, Detroit (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) - Set a meet record and personal-best at the IPFW Duals in the weight throw, registering a distance of 18.71 meters.
Alex Chollet, Milwaukee (Sr., Aurora, Ill.) - Shattered his own school record in the weight throw with a mark of 18.73 meters at the Tierney Triangular.
Arnaldo Morales, Youngstown State (So., Struthers, Ohio) - At the YSU College Invitational he finished first, seventh and eleventh in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump, respectively. In the high jump, Morales broke the school record that stood since 1999 by .01 meters.
Gabriel Williams, Valparaiso (Fr., Lombard, Ill.) - Took home a first-place finish in the long jump (5.91 meters) and triple jump (11.96 meters) at the IPFW Duals.
Shaun Wollenweber, UIC (Fr., Plano, Ill.) - In the triple jump at the Tadd Metzger Invitational, Wollenweber took home top honors with a mark of 13.89 meters.
Tyana Coatney, Wright State (So., Beavercreek, Ohio) - At the Greyhound Invitational, Coatney took first in the triple jump with a mark of 10.61 meters.
Ariel Gibbs, UIC (So., Pembroke Township, Ill.) - At the Tadd Metzger Invitational, Gibbs finished fourth with a long jump of 5.20 meters.
Sherice Hewett, Milwaukee (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis.) - Finished first in both the triple jump and 60-meter hurdles at the Tierney Triangular. Her triple jump mark of 11.80 meters is second-best in the League this season. Hewett also owns the furthest jump this year (11.90 meters)
Jennifer Neider, Youngstown State (Jr., Hermitage, Pa.) - Had a strong performance in the shot put at the YSU College Invitational, taking first-place with a toss of 13.35 meters.
Hannah Reynard, Valparaiso (Fr., Jackson, Mich.) - Was the only competitor to finish under 1 minute in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.97 seconds. Also finished in eighth in the 200-meter dash clocking a time of 27.84 seconds at the IPFW Duals.
Megan Simientowski, Oakland (So., Milford, Mich.) - Placed second in the pole vault with a mark of 3.05 meters at the Mastodon Duals.

Other Top Runners of the Week:
Tre Brown, Oakland (So., Ann Arbor, Mich.) - Finished first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.61 seconds at the Mastodon Duals.
Anthony Franze, Valparaiso (So., Gunter, Texas) - Registered a first and second-place in the 200-meter dash (23.01 seconds) and the 60-meter dash (7.24 seconds), respectively, at the IPFW Duals.
Matt Kubik, UIC (Sr., Carol Stream, Ill.) - Placed third in the 60-meter dash at the Tadd Metzger Invitational with a time of 7.09 seconds.
Ryan Leahy, Detroit (So., St. Joseph, Mich.) - Set a personal-best in the 3,000 meter run at the IPFW Duals, crossing the finish line at 8:36.39. It marked his second win of the season in the event.
Austin McLean, Youngstown State (Jr., West Jefferson, Ohio ) - His time of 14:39.85 nipped teammate Eric Rupe by .14 seconds in the 5,000 meter run at the YSU College Invitational.
Ashley Bayles, Detroit (So., Adrian, Mich.) - Won the shot put and placed second in the weight throw at the IPFW Duals, registering marks of 13.00 meters and 15.04 meters, respectively. Her weight throw marks a personal-best.
Nina Grambling, Youngstown State (Jr., Canton, Ohio) - In her long event, Grambling took home top honors in the 60-meter dash at the YSU College Invitational with a time of 7.58 seconds, good for a .001 second victory.
Michelle Garner, Milwaukee (Jr., Greenfield, Wis.) - At the Tierney Triangular, posted personal-best times in both the 60-meter hurdles and 600-meter dash with times of 9.23 seconds and 1:40.55, respectively.
Miranda Haas, Oakland (Jr., Pinckney, Mich.) - Her time of 10:09.46 in the 3,000 meter run at the Gladstien Invitational was a personal-best and placed her third.
Lauren Lindholm, UIC (Jr., Aurora, Ill.) - Crossed the finish line at 10:26.86 in the 3,000 meter run at the Tadd Metzger Invitational, good for third-place.
Savanna Termuhlen, Wright State (Sr., Reynoldsburg, Ohio) - At the Gladstien Invitational, took third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.65 seconds.

Indoor Athletes of the Week:
Dec. 2: Arnaldo Morales (Youngstown State); Jaynee Corbett (Youngstown State)
Jan. 6: Jordan Banks (UIC); Ashley Bayles (Detroit)
Jan. 13: Nicholas Girodat (Oakland); Jazmin Taylor (Valparaiso)
Jan. 20:  Gino Vitella (Oakland); Sarah Peters (Valparaiso)

Indoor Runners of the Week:
Dec. 2: Bryce Stroede (Oakland); Nina Grambling (Youngstown State)
Jan. 6: Ryan Leahy (Detroit); Kacia Grant (Wright State)
Jan. 13:  Marquis Johnson (Milwaukee); Leah Holmes (Milwaukee)
Jan. 20:  Marquis Johnson (Milwaukee); Shannon Marchant (Detroit)