Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron // Penn State National
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The University of Akron track and field team registered nine top-five performances in opening-night competition at the Penn State National on Friday, Jan. 31.
The Zips took the top-three spots in the men's pole vault with senior Matt Keim (Bolllivar, Ohio) capturing the victory eclipsing 16-5.25 (5.01m). Placing second and third, respectively, with identical marks of 16-1.25 (4.91m) was freshman Sebastian Martin (Santiago, Chile) and senior Tyler Fraker (Delta, Ohio).
Freshman Dimitrije Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia) had an impressive showing in his collegiate debut registering the fourth-best mark in indoor program history in the men's triple jump, 50-9.50 (15.48m), en route to placing second in the event. The mark stands as the 30th-best effort in the NCAA this season.
The women's distance medley relay squad of seniors Haley Hess (Curtice, Ohio) and Victoria Stachowski (Waterford, Mich.), freshman Makenna Heimlich (Shelby, Ohio) and sophomore Lizzy Gurko (Northfield, Ohio) posted the 15th-fastest time in the NCAA crossing the line in 11:42.76 en route to placing third. The effort is also the third-fastest effort in the event for Akron since 2014.
Redshirt freshman Demetrius Jackson (Beachwood, Ohio) placed third in the finals of the men's 60 meters on the strength of a career-best time of 6.75, the fifth-best performance in indoor program history. He registered times of 6.81 and 6.84, respectively, in the semifinal and opening rounds.
Senior Shawnn Foster (Cheektowa, N.Y.) recorded a career-best mark of 60-5.75 (18.43m) en route to finishing fifth in the women's weight throw.
Freshman Rachael Ward (Jamestown, N.Y.) cleared 12-0.50 (3.67m) to finish fifth in the women's pole vault.
Redshirt junior Patrick Kimball (Pittsburgh, Pa.) earned an eighth-place showing in the finals of the men's 60-meter hurdles crossing the line in 8.16. He advanced to the finals with times of 8.05 and 8.16 in the semifinal and opening rounds.
Sophomore Jasmyn Allen (Twinsburg, Ohio) fell one spot shy of qualifying for the finals of the women's 60-meter hurdles after garnering a time of 8.63 in the semifinals and a 8.74 effort in the opening round.
Akron concludes competition at the Penn State National on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Central Michigan // Jack Skoog Invitational
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Nine first-place finishes, a celebration of some of the very best in program history, and some new championship rings highlighted the annual Central Michigan Track & Field Jack Skoog Open on Friday at the Jack Skoog Indoor Track.
It was CMU's lone home meet, indoors or outdoors, of the season, and it unfolded before an overflow crowd of enthusiastic supporters. Eastern Michigan, Spring Arbor and Saginaw Valley State also partook in the meet. No team scores were kept.
"(The crowd) was huge," CMU director of cross country/track & field Jenny Swieton said. "I think you get some really big performances out of the student-athletes when they have the home crowd behind with them. That was obviously evident. We had a lot of great performances across the board."
The program honored Chippewa All-Americans from the past 20 years along with the 2005 men's track & field team that swept the indoor and outdoor Mid-American Conference Championships. Members of the CMU women's team received their rings commemorating their 2019 MAC indoor title.
"I knew everybody was going to be excited to get their rings, but people seemed really excited (when they got them), which was a lot of fun," Swieton said. "I think bringing back the All-Americans and the former championship teams is awesome just to get them back together. They get to see their old teammates that they haven't seen in a while."
Results
CMU took the top four spots in the women's weight throw with Quiara Wheeler taking first with a throw of 64 feet, 5 ¾ inches. Maya Bennett placed second, 61-1 ¼; Marissa Dunn was third, 59-2 ¾; and Mohogany Wells placed fourth, 57-9 ¾.
The Chippewas' Nadia Williams won the women's long jump at 21-0, and Ja'La Taylor won the women's triple jump, 37-6 ¾.
Kasey Staley won the women's pole vault, 11-11 ¾ and the Chippewa women also got victories from Calli Stemple in the high jump, 5-7; Reghan Draper in the 60-meter dash (7.84 seconds); Lauren Beckman in the 3,000 (10:38).
CMU's Logan Targgart won the men's weight throw at 71-4, which is just 7 inches off the program record. Connor Covert placed in fifth at 62-7 ¾.
The Chippewas' Isaac Sadzewicz won the men's pole vault at 16-¾.
CMU seconds: Siobhan Szerencsits, women's pole vault; Lexie Jorgens, women's 3,000; Mark Beckman, men's mile; Lauren Beckman, women's mile; Parker Aerts, men's 60; Ana Garcia Arias, women's 800; Gage Shellenbarger, men's high jump; Tyra Daniels, women's 200; Alexa Davis, women's 600.
Home Cookin'
The Chippewas put up some of their best marks of the season while competing in front of friends, family and fans.
"I think it puts us in a good frame of mind," said Swieton of competing at home. "It lets us come out, have fun with it, do the best we possibly can, compete, and show off to some people. It also gives you that confidence moving forward for the best of the season."
Said Targgart, a senior: "It was nice to have that energy. I haven't competed at home in about two years so it was nice, felt good. We're kind of getting into that middle of the season where bodies are starting to feel a lot better."
Said Sadzewicz: "It's cool because we only have one home meet a year so you come in, you get ready to go, and feel the energy out of the crowd, it's great. Especially when you practice here. It's your home turf so you get that extra excitement and it lines up (to be) a good meet."
Ring Ceremony
The ring ceremony commemorating the women's squad's 2019 indoor league title allowed the athletes and coaches to reflect on their accomplishments.
"I feel like this really reminds us to be motivated, and support one another," Nadia Williams said.
Said Wheeler: "It reminds us to keep working hard, that we're better than we think we are, and I'm excited (for the upcoming meets)."
Next
CMU will travel to South Bend, Ind. to compete in the Meyo Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on Friday and Saturday Feb. 7-8.
Eastern Michigan Men // Jack Skoog Invitational
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's track and field team captured a half-dozen event titles at the Jack Skoog Open Friday, Jan. 31, inside the Jack Skoog Indoor Track.
Sophomore Alec Frymier (Hilliard, Ohio-Hilliard Bradley) set EMU's fastest time of the season in the 60-meter dash as he claimed first prize with a mark of 6.91 seconds. He was also the program's lone entry in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in fourth place with a time of 8.29.
All three Eagles to compete in the 200-meter dash finished in the top-four, with freshman Alexander Trower (Pittsburgh, Pa.-Penn Hills) placing second with a time of 22.99 seconds. From there, freshman Kyle Martin(Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ann Arbor Huron) was right behind in third place at exactly 23 seconds, while freshman Dorian Hooker II (Sylvania, Ohio-Northview) ranked fourth with a personal-best time of 23.05.
Meanwhile, freshman Frankie Grey (Brentwood, N.Y.-Brentwood) clinched the 400-meter title with a time of 50.23 seconds, before fellow freshman Trent Barron (Flint, Mich.-Carman-Ainsworth) finished as the runner-up with a personal-best mark of 50.33. EMU also secured each of the top three positions in the 800-meter run. Senior Roderic Wilson (Atlanta, Ga.-Blanche Ely) won the event with a time of 1:55.90, while junior Derek Jones(Erie, Pa.-Cathedral Preparatory) and sophomore Ronald Brandal (Huron, Ohio-Huron) placed second and third place with marks of 1:55.95 and 1:57.41, respectively. For his part, Wilson anchored the 4x400-meter relay team that finished in first place with a time of. Additionally, senior Austin Wicker (Pinckney, Mich.-Pinckney) took home the 3000-meter title as he crossed the finish line in 9:01.17.
In the field events, redshirt junior Baboucar Sallah-Mohammed (Arlington, Va.-Fishburne Academy) won the triple jump with a mark of 15.03 meters. Freshman Omar Ibrahim (Cairo, Egypt-Aspire Academy) competed in a pair of events, finishing third in the shot put with a toss of 15.30 meters and sixth in the weight throw at 16.59 meters. A pair of Eagles set career-bests in the weight throw, redshirt senior Taige Bryant (Edmond, Okla.-Edmond Memorial) finished second overall with a personal-best heave of 20.42 meters, freshman Kappa Bedoui (Doha, Qatar-Aspire Academy) finished in third place at 20.40, and redshirt senior Zach Harkey (Huron, Ohio-Huron) also eclipsed the 20-meter mark as he placed fourth with a personal-best throw of 20.26.
Eastern resumes its indoor slate Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8 as it travels to Notre Dame, Ind. to compete in the Meyo Invitational.
Kent State // Razorback Invitational
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Kent State redshirt senior TJ Lawson finished Friday's opening day of heptathlon competition at the Razorback Invitational in fourth place. His four-event score of 3,388 is 48 better than his program record-setting performance at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and only 31 behind leader Kyle Garland from the University of Georgia.
Lawson was the only competitor in the field of 21 athletes that earned top-five finishes in all four events, which included runner-up performances in the long jump and shot put.
He started the competition with a lifetime personal-best time of 7.03 in the 60-meter dash. Lawson then took second in the long jump with a top mark of 24'-5.5" for his highest-scoring event of the day (922 points). He followed with another second-place finish in the shot put. Lawson bested his previous indoor personal-best on two of his three throws and had a top heave of 48'-3.25". In the final event of the day, he was able to clear 6'-7.5" in the high jump.
Junior Jacob Mally was also in action and concluded the day with 2,872 to sit in 12th place. Mally started with a 7.26 in the 60-meter dash for his highest-scoring event of the day (792 points). He added top-10 finishes in the long jump (21'-1.75") and high jump (6'-2.75").
The final three heptathlon events will be held on Saturday. Competition is scheduled to begin at 11:40 a.m. with 60-meter hurdles. The pole vault will follow at 12:45 p.m. The 1,000-meter run will conclude competition at 4:15 p.m. and be broadcast on SEC Network+ as part of the meet's featured events.
Miami // Indiana Relays
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Miami track and field squad wrapped up its first day of competition at IU's Indiana Relays Friday evening.
One of the biggest highlights of the day came from the men's distance relay team, who ran a 9:37.01 and took third in the meet - the time stands as one of the best recorded in Miami history and also one of the best times of the 2020 season. The quartet of Anthony Camerieri, Luke Finnegan, Finley Mclear, and Sean Torpy combined to record what would be the third-best results in the nation, pending other results on the evening.
In the track half of the evening, Olivia Bechtel continued her outstanding 2020 indoor season with another top-five finish. The senior ran a 24.28 for fifth-place in the well-attended event, which is her best time in the event on the young season. Another strong finish came from a freshman in the 600; Elena Pazman ran a 1:34.92 in her collegiate debut in the event and took a fifth-place result herself.
Elsewhere, Kayla Walters was Miami's top runner in both the 60m dash and 60m hurdles, although the RedHawks weren't able to place any runners in the finals of either event.
In field events, Elise Walker took a seventh-place finish in the high jump after clearing a height of 1.62m.
Among men's runners, Ivan Dye had one of the best individual performances of the day as he ran the best 600 of his career and took fourth in the event. The senior from Toledo ran a 1:21.22 in the event. Jeremiah Hunter also had a top-ten result, running a 22.04 for seventh in the 200m.
The meet will continue Saturday with another full slate of events, with things kicking off at 8:30 a.m.
