Targgart, Williams Capture MAC Titles

AKRON, Ohio -- Nadia Williams won the women's long jump and Logan Targgart won the men's weight throw on Friday to lead Central Michigan on day one of the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship at Akron's Stile Field House.

The Central Michigan women are tied for fourth place with Akron with 23 points. The Chippewa men are in fifth place with 19 points. Eastern Michigan (44) leads the men's team standings, while Northern Illinois (35) leads the women's.

CMU is the defending women's champion.

"I think we did well," CMU director of track & field Jenny Swieton said. "I think that we had a lot of people step up even if it doesn't show in the points. It was really good to see the new people to the MAC meet compete.

"We have a lot of people who've never been here before, and they maybe didn't get on the podium or didn't score, but they competed really well, set big personal records, and tried to beat as many people as they could."

The meet will resume on Saturday at 10 a.m.

"(I hope) they compete with everything they have," Swieton said. "As important as that is, it's equally important for everyone else who's done competing, or didn't make a final, to be here and support their teammates. We want to be the loudest team in this place tomorrow and fight for one another to give (those athletes) that extra boost, extra 10ths of a second, or an extra 10th of a centimeter."

Chippewa Champions
Targgart won the men's weight throw at 70 feet, 7 ¼ inches, while Williams went 20-7 ¼ in defending her women's long jump league title.

Both Chippewas were seeded No. 1 in their respective events, and both are ranked in the top 10 nationally. Both are headed to the March 13-14 NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, N.M.

"It's kind of an interesting position for them," Swieton said. "They come in, they're expected to win, it's their last indoor MAC meet, so there's a lot more pressure on them to perform.

"Anything less than winning, in their mind, is something they won't be happy with. They did a good job of managing those emotions and coming in and doing what they needed to do. It was good to get that out of the way heading into" the NCAA Championships.

Other CMU placers
The CMU women's team had three athletes score points in the weight throw. Quiara Wheeler placed third, breaking her program record with a 64-9 ¾ toss; Maya Bennett placed sixth, 59-0; and Marissa Dunn placed eighth, 58-¼.

"I feel like the throws have been fabulous this season, and we always know we can count on them," Swieton said. "They support each other 100 percent, lift each other up, help each other do a great job. I think that's why we have so much success."

CMU's Adam Rzentkowski, Dante Lander, Emmett Smrcka and Will Finch combined to finish fourth in the distance medley relay in 10:01.40. Three of the four – Rzentkowski, Lander and Finch – are underclassmen.

Also for CMU, Isaac Sadzewicz placed fourth in the men's pole vault, 16-0; Conor Naughton was fifth in the men's 5,000 meter run, (14:33.08).

The Chippewas' Alexandria Robinson placed seventh in the women's pentathlon. Her top finishes, a pair of seconds, came in the 60-meter hurdles, 8.91, and in the long jump, 18-1 ½.

Heptathlon
CMU's Gavin Jaime is sixth and Grady Lycan is seventh in the heptathlon through four events. The final three events are scheduled for Saturday.

Jaime's best finish, second, came in the 60-meter dash. Lycan's best finish, a sixth, came in the shot put.

The 60-meter hurdles, the pole vault, and the 1,000-meter run are scheduled for Saturday.

Prelims
Several Chippewas advanced to the finals in their respective events with good showing on Friday in preliminary races. The top eight in each move on to the finals.

Those CMU athletes set to compete on Saturday in finals: Parker Aerts, men's 60 hurdles; Roshawn Morton, men's 400; Williams, women's 60; Jeron Kelley, men's 60.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Parker Aerts

Gavin Jaime

Jeron Kelley

Dante Lander

Grady Lycan

Roshawn Morton

Conor Naughton

Adam Rzentkowski

Isaac Sadzewicz

Emmett Smrcka

Logan Targgart