Neeia Cooperwood was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Women’s Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year after she was the top women’s performer at Saturday’s GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Crete, Neb.

Neeia Cooperwood, a junior from Omaha, Neb., was named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Women’s Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year after she was the top women’s performer at Saturday’s GPAC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Crete, Neb.

Cooperwood scored 38 of Morningside’s 57 points to lead the Mustangs to a fifth place finish in the team standings. Morningside also finished fifth in the men’s team standings with 61 points.

Cooperwood had three first place finishes along with a runner-up effort at the GPAC Indoor Championships. She successfully defended her individual titles in the 60-meters, 200-meters, and long jump that she won last year. Cooperwood tied the GPAC record with a time of 7.70 seconds in the 60-meters and set a new GPAC record with a time of 24.86 in the 200-meters. Her time in the 60-meters broke her own school record of 7.73 seconds she set last season.

Aside from her wins in the two sprints, Cooperwood won the long jump with a GPAC record distance of 19-6 and was the runner-up in the 400-meters with a time of 58.39.

She also received the Co- Female Top Performance of the Meet award for her effort in the long jump, which broke the existing Fuhrer Fieldhouse record.

Cooperwood shared the award with Courtney Mills of Hastings College.

Garret Ehlers, a senior from Ida Grove, Iowa, was Morningside’s top competitor in the men’s division. Ehlers won the GPAC championship with a winning time of 15:06.76 in the 5000-meters and was the runner-up in the 3000-meters with a time of 8:45.76.

The Mustangs also had a pair of top finishes from Jay Welp, a junior from Marcus, Iowa, who was the runner-up in the 800-meters with a time of 1:55.69 and placed third in the mile with a time of 4:21.64. Morningside added a second place winner in both events with a fifth place time of 1:57.66 in the 800-meters from Alex DeVries, a freshman from Merrill, Iowa, and a seventh place time of 4:28.70 in the mile from Eric Koithan, a junior from Mapleton, Iowa.

Morningside had two other individual place winners in the men’s competition. Shaun Ryan, a senior from Le Mars, Iowa, finished fifth in the long jump with a distance of 22-8 1/2 and Brad Wright, a junior from Mullen, Neb., finished seventh in the 600-meters with a time of 1:24.73.

Nicole Ausborn, a junior from Mason City, Iowa, placed in two events for the Mustang women with a fifth place time of 18:48.23 in the 5000-meters and an eight place time of 11:03.95 in the 3000-meters.

Casey Caitlin, a senior from Emerson, Neb., placed fifth in the women’s high jump with a height of 5-1/2 and Jennifer Petsche, a sophomore from Onawa, Iowa, placed seventh in the women’s 800-meters with a time of 2:21.90.

Morningside’s best relay finish came in the men’s 3200-meter event, where it finished second with a time of 7:52.26 from the team of Drew Schiltz, a freshman from Hinton, Iowa; Jacob Willey, a sophomore from Onawa, Iowa; DeVries, and Wright. Morningside finished fifth in the men’s 1600-meter relay with a time of 3:26.21 from Ben VanDyke, a sophomore from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; Willey, Welp, and Wright.

Morningside finished third in the women’s 3200-meter relay with a time of 9:38.0 from the quartet of Tori Figge, a freshman from Rock Rapids, Iowa; Anna Hart, a sophomore from Shenandoah, Iowa; Tori Pothast, a freshman from Melbourne, Iowa; and Shelby Hall, a sophomore from Woodbine, Iowa. The Mustangs finished fifth in the women’s 1600-meter relay with a time of 4:10.58 from Petsche, Jessie Hamman, a sophomore from Manson, Iowa; Pothast, and Hall.

Results