BACK-TO-BACK IN THE GAC TRACK & FIELD WINS SUCCESSIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS WORDS Caitlin Denton I I PHOTOS A bigail Coope,; Evan Su1earingen rt..,, Amanda Flqyd At the end of the 2016-17 school year, Harding athletics won the Great American Conference (GAC) All- ports trophy due in part to having three athletic teams ranked in the top 10. The track team was one of these three teams, retaining the G C championship title for the econd y ar in a row. Harding's track team hosted the GAC conference tournament in 2016 and 2017, winning on their home turf at Teel Lloyd track. Coach teve Guymon praised his team on their accomplishments. "It was exciting and rewarding watching the 2017 team win th title," Guymon said. "We had lost 22 seniors from the 2016 team and to watch this [new] group accomplish it again was special." ' enior Raianne ,Iason was a part of both sea ons and wa excited at the beginning of the 2016-17 season knowing that, although the team changed, they were still a trong roster. "\'(le got a 1 t of new members on the team, and that is really exciting because it means more events, more points," Mason said. "lt is really cool to see these [new teammates] grow." ot only did the team win the 2017 GAC champion hip title, but many indidivual team members won other awards as well. eniorJosh yrotch n earned the Most Outstanding Athlete honor for the secondstraight year and won three of the throwing events: hammer, discus and shot put. Harding coaches also received honors. Guymon won both Coach of the Year awards. "Coach of the Year is a nice honor, but we, as the coaches, only receive these due to the hard work, the efforts and [the] accomplishments lof] the team," Guymon said. During this time, Harding athletes set new school rec rds. The women's team set two new indoor records, one of which being the 4x400 relay team. The team included Mason, alumna shley Reinhert, sophomore helsea Howard and junior Kaylin Turley who all helped to shave more than five seconds off the previous record. Even in the mid t of champion hip titles and awards the team recognized their purpo e, which,; as encouraging one another. "Our team is like a family," Turley said. "It's honestly one of the biggest blessings I could have asked for. We are constantly pushing each other to do better and be better on and off the track." I Seni.or Kirs.tie Smith runs for the Harding women's track team in the Great American Conference Track and Field Championship on April 22, 2017, at Ted Lloyd Track. She placed second In the 10,000-meter race. // Photo by Amanda Floyd Senior Josh Syrotchen practices his shotput technique on March 28, 2017, at First Security Stadium. He was named the Most Outstanding Athlete for his performance on the men's track team for the second year in a row.// Photo by Evan Swearingen ~ m z )> z 0 ~ 0 ~ m z u5 -i :0 )> 0 7' :::::::
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