Courtesy: Robert Barclay/CMU Abraham Mach celebrates his MAC title in the 800m on Saturday.

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Senior Abraham Mach won the title in the 800m, providing the biggest highlight for the Central Michigan University men’s track and field team on the final day of the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at Eastern Michigan’s Bob Parks Track.

The Chippewas finished the two-day competition with 47 team points, tied with Buffalo for fourth place among the five teams at the meet. Host Eastern Michigan ran away with its third straight MAC indoor title, scoring 207 points to far outdistance second-place Akron (124 points) and third-place Kent State (98 points).

Mach’s victory in the 800m in a time of 1:52.70 gave him his third individual MAC title, but his first indoors. He has won the 800m outdoors in each of the last two seasons. He was the only Chippewa, male or female, to claim an individual title at this year’s indoor meet.

“Abraham was outstanding today,” CMU head coach Jim Knapp said. “He ran a great race in the 800m and a strong anchor leg on the 4x400m relay team. He’s obviously one of the most talented athletes in the Mid-American Conference.”

Junior pole vaulter Marcus Breidinger registered his third consecutive runner-up finish in that event at the conference meet, clearing 16-0 ¾ to earn second team All-MAC honors. He tied teammate Mike McGregor in height, but claimed the second spot based on attempts. McGregor finished third, and the two vaulters produced 14 of CMU’s 47 points with their performances.

Also finishing second on Saturday was the 4x400m relay team of Kyle Fortin, David Ashcraft, Emanuel Sledge and Mach, in a time of 3:17.64, earning eight team points for CMU.

Other point scorers for CMU on Saturday were Oz Lifshitz in the triple jump (fourth, 47-7), Marcell Maxwell in the 60m (fifth, 6.97), Riak Mabil in the 3000m (fifth, 8:33.43), David Ashcraft in the 400m (sixth, 50.03) and Joseph Mielke in the high jump (sixth, 6-6 ¼).

Scoring points for the Chippewas on the first day of the two-day competition were Sammy Kiprotich and Jacob Korir in the 5000m, and the distance medley relay team. Kiprotich earned two points with a fifth-place finish in the 5000m in 14:56.05, while teammate Korir added one point for taking sixth in 15:01.19. The relay team picked up a pair of points with a fifth-place finish in 10:44.01 in the distance medley.

CMU is scheduled to compete at the Last Chance Meet at Notre Dame next weekend, but the Chippewas will only send a limited number of athletes with the potential to qualify for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships. For most of the team, the indoor season is complete, and the focus shifts to the outdoor track season that begins with a dual meet against Eastern Michigan at CMU’s Lyle Bennett Track on Saturday, April 5.

“We have to go back to work and try to get something done outdoors,” Knapp said. “We’ll look for improvement from everyone, get some people that were nicked up indoors back healthy and hopefully we’ll be a better team during the outdoor season.”