The great Katie Scott held every Women's Track & Field distance record at Lake Superior State University with an iron grip for nearly two decades. Anything longer than a mile for Indoor and Outdoor competitions belonged to her during an epic three-year span from 2007 to 2009.
 
Until Friday, when Noel Black took her place as the new Outdoor queen of the 5,000 meters. Running a final time of 17:38.75 at the Elaine Leigh Invitational at Oakland University, Black won the event by nearly 11 seconds and beat Scott's LSSU record by about 15 seconds.
 
"The old cliche is that records are made to be broken, and certainly the excellent performances in our history that are like Katie's exemplary career are the targets that we're aiming for," said Laker Head Coach Matt Stith. "That's what records are for, to inspire us, inspire our athletes and our coaches to try to carry our colors around the track faster than they've ever gone, go over the bar higher than they've ever gone, throw the implement farther than they've ever gone. When that comes together and we see one of those performances, it's, of course, just a matter of real celebration for the whole team and the whole program."
 
Black secured her place near the front of the pack during the first three kilometers of the race. Then she made her move with about two kilometers left, leaving a large gulf between her and the rest of the field. She finished nearly 11 seconds faster than the second place finisher and 25 seconds faster than third place.
 
"The two words that Noelle used immediately after the race to describe it were, that was 'hard' and that was 'fun,' which pretty much encapsulates what running the 5,000 well should feel like," said Stith. "She executed a flawless race in terms of getting established at a good pace early, then maintaining it solidly through the race. Her splits were rock solid. She sensed exactly the right moment to take the lead, take over the race, take the lead with about 2K to go, as the other athletes she was sort of running with started to slow down."
 
Smith's name remains all over the list of top performances in Laker history. She holds program-bests in the 1,500, 3,000, 3,000 Steeplechase, and 10,000 meter runs. And she holds LSSU's best marks in the Mile, 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter Indoor events.
 
Elsewhere, Keira Lamming took third in the High Jump and third in the 400-Meter Hurdles. While Friday saw great weather in Rochester, MI, Saturday's conditions were described as "rotten" by Stith, who praised the junior for pushing through and performing well.
 
"She's made extremely solid improvements in her form and technique, along with fitness and general health that are allowing her to chip away at her personal best. We hope to see that happen again at GLIACs."
 
Janelle Docter, coming off an victory in the Hammer Throw last weekend at the Chippewa Challenge, threw for 46.99 Meters this weekend, She'll have a chance to break Jill Walton's 16-year old program record of 48.87 meters at the GLIAC Championships in two weeks.
 
On the men's team, Grant Wheaton continued to impress as he builds to the conference meet's decathlon. He registered personal bests in three events – the Javelin, High Jump and 110-Meter Hurdles. The Lakers coach said that it was a "really solid weekend of work," and the staff eagerly awaits his first full decathlon in two weeks time.
 
Trey Neiman scored a new best throw in the Discus, and distance runner Birk Seagren nearly broke the 16:00 mark in the 5,000 Meter Run.
 
The Lakers get a week off, then head to Allendale, MI for the GLIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, beginning April 29^th and wrapping up May 1^st.
 
Stith said, "Our training is all focused on trying to produce our best performance at the conference meet. We keep building toward personal improvement, and that will get us where we need to go eventually."
 
He added, "It's a chance to put an exclamation point on all of it; put a good stamp on the year."
 
That might include the chance to put some new school records in the history books.