YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Central Michigan University women’s track and field team scored points in eight of 11 events on the final day of the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at Eastern Michigan’s Bob Parks Track to surge from eighth place and finish the two-day meet in fifth place.
The Chippewas could not catch the pack of four teams that battled for the conference crown, which went to Akron for the third consecutive indoor season, but did move up the standings to top the remaining seven schools. CMU scored 44.5 of its 56.5 points on Saturday, which was the fourth-highest team output of the day, behind only Western Michigan (76), Akron (61) and Miami (60).
“I was very pleased with how we performed today,” CMU head coach
Karen Lutzke said. “We had a lot of quality efforts across the board to pick up a significant amount of points. We scored in most of the events today, and that’s what you need to do to place well. Those top four teams were really tough, and we held our own with them most of the meet. I’m proud of how we competed.”
CMU’s top individual finish came from senior
Jenaie Edwards, who finished second in the 400m to Western Michigan’s Becky Horn. Edwards was the defending indoor champion in that event, having edged Horn at last year’s indoor meet, but the Bronco turned the tables this year. Edwards’ time of 55.27 earned CMU eight team points, and she also added four points with a fifth-place finish in the 200m (25.25) later in the day.
Freshman
Jordan Dunn led CMU’s three scorers in the 60m, finishing third in a time of 7.63 to score six points for the Chippewas. Also scoring in the 60m were senior
Tempestt Stanford (seventh, 7.70) and freshman
Brittnee Shreve (eighth, 7.82). Stanford also scored later in the meet in the 200m, finishing eighth in 25.51.
In addition to Dunn and Shreve, freshmen
Aleisha Leeper and
Raeanne Lohner also produced points in their first MAC meet. Leeper took fifth in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 38-10 ˝, while Lohner scored with a seventh-place finish in the 800m (2:15.82).
“Our freshmen that stepped up were a big part of what we did this weekend, and a big part of how we’re going to be successful going forward,” Lutzke said. “They competed very well this weekend, and each of them is only going to get better.”
Others scoring points on Saturday’s final day of action were
Erika Schroll in the high jump (T-3rd for 4.5 points, 5-6), the 4x400m relay team of
Erin Dillon,
Cara Dukes, Stanford and Edwards (fourth, 3:53.13),
Sarah Squires in the mile (fifth, 5:02.90) and Dukes in the 400m (seventh, 57.85).
Scoring points for CMU on Friday’s first day of competition were
Kelly McClure,
Shanna Tamminga,
Whitney Johnson and the distance medley relay team. McClure finished fifth in the 3000m in 17:31.59 to pick up four points, while Tamminga scored two points with a seventh-place finish in the pentathlon (3,534 points). Johnson finished seventh in the weight throw (57-3) for two points, while the distance medley relay team of
Danielle Dakroub, Dillon, Lohner and Squires placed fifth in a time of 11:57.03 to add four more points to the Chippewas’ total.
For most of the Chippewas, the MAC meet marks the end of the indoor track season. A few athletes may travel to the Last Chance Meet this weekend at Notre Dame in an effort to qualify for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Championships. The rest will not get on the track to compete again until the start of the outdoor track season at the Toledo Invitational on Saturday, March 29.
“Our performance this weekend can be a great springboard into preparations for the outdoor season,” Lutzke said. “We haven’t peaked as a team yet, and we’re going to get some people that were sick or injured during the indoor season back healthy and ready to go outdoors. We improved greatly over the course of the indoor campaign, and hopefully we’ll continue that trend and be even better outdoors.”
Courtesy: Robert Barclay/CMU
