ALLENDALE, Mich. -- Grand Valley State had another successful day of competition on Friday on the second day of the 2014 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, being held at the GVSU Track & Field Stadium. The day was highlighted by a pair of All-American performances and the women's squad still stands alone at the top of the team score leaderboard going in to the final day of competition.
The GVSU women lead the field with 34 points, followed by New Mexico Highlands (31), Pittsburg State (21), Central Missouri (21) and Adams State (20) to round out the top five.
GVSU will have 15 student-athletes (7 women, 8 men) and two women's relays participating in Saturday's final day of competition.
Senior Kalena Franklin was the first Laker track athlete in action on day two, taking part in her second-best individual event in the 200-meter dash. Franklin ran a good time at 24.20 seconds, but it was not enough to qualify for finals, as she finished 11th, only .15 behind the final qualifying spot.
Becca Leppelmeier finished 20th in the women's discus finals, her best throw coming in her first attempt, a toss of 35.15 meters (115'4").Franklin had her turn come up again later in the day in her top event, the 100 hurdles. She redeemed her earlier 200 effort by finishing third in the hurdle prelims with a time of 13.43 seconds, only .02 behind her own school record. She will be competing in Saturday's final as one of the top seeds.
Another All-American performance was joined by another Laker All-American performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, as senior Hannah Osborn came across in third place with a personal best time of 10:17.86 to pick up six big team points. Also competing in the event were junior Jordan Chester, who finished ninth with a time of 10:45.89, and sophomore Katelyn Cliff, who crossed the line 12th with a time of 11:04.76.
The final event of the day, the 4x400 relay prelim, included Franklin running in her third race of the day, teaming up with Andrea Kober, Brittney Banister and Brittany Terry to cross the line in 3:43.79 in third place in their heat and the fifth-best time in the event, qualifying for the final on Saturday evening.
