Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron // Doug Raymond National Qualifier
KENT, Ohio – University of Akron sophomore Amir Willis (Cincinnati, Ohio) captured the men's 60 meters with a career-best time of 6.80 to lead the efforts of the Zips' Track and Field team on the final day of the Doug Raymond Invitational hosted by Kent State on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Willis headlined the field in the men's 60 meters after running a time of 6.92 in the semifinal round. Sophomore Malcom Briley (Pickerington, Ohio) finished fourth in 6.88.
Senior Maike Anstett (Karlsruhe, Germany) earned a third-place showing in the women's triple jump with a mark of 39-6.50 (12.05m).
Redshirt freshman Charles Sanders (Cincinnati, Ohio) placed third in the men's 400 meters on the strength of a career-best time of 48.82.
Akron returns to competition hosting the Al Campbell Invitational on Friday, Feb. 21, at the Stile Athletics Field House.
Akron // USA Track & Field Indoor Championships
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – University of Akron redshirt sophomore Noah Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) clocked a school-record time of 46.50 in the men's 400 meters finals to lead the performances of the Zips at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships on Saturday, Feb. 15.
Williams placed fifth in the final and in the process rewrote the oldest record in the Akron indoor program record book supplanting Paul Donatelli's school-record time of 46.87 set in 1997.
Redshirt freshman Demetrius Jackson (Cleveland, Ohio) registered a time of 6.80 to finish 12th in the semifinal round of the men's 60 meters.
Akron returns to competition hosting the Al Campbell Invitational on Friday, Feb. 21, at the Stile Athletics Field House.
Ball State // Music City Challenge
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Ball State's distance medley relay made its 2020 debut a memorable one, taking top honors in the event on the opening day of the Music City Challenge hosted at the Vanderbilt Rec Center / Indoor Track Facility.
In the DMR's debut race this season, senior Peyton Kneadler (Monticello, Ind./Twin Lakes), sophomore Karlie Zumbro (Zanesville, Ohio/John Glen), redshirt sophomore Madison Kiser (Royal Center, Ind./Pioneer High School) and freshman Grace Dean (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North)combined for a winning time of 12:05.72. The time is currently the fifth-fastest in the league this season.
Individually, the Cardinals picked up four career-best performances and three top 10 finishes on the day, led by freshman Charity Griffith (Arlington, Ind./Rushville) who tied for eighth in the high jump at 1.59m.
Senior Megan Graves (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) was not far behind, placing ninth in the weight throw at 16.69m. Rounding out Ball State's top 10 finishers was senior Bryeana Byrdsong (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central) with a 10th-place time of 24.71 in the 200m.
Senior Maritza Rodriguez (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) also turned in a strong showing in the 5,000m, placing 18th overall in a career-fast 17:01.46. Her effort was less than 10 seconds shy of the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championship automatic qualifying time of 16:52.00 and is currently the second-fastest time in the league so far this season.
The Ball State indoor track & field team concludes competition in the Music City Challenge Saturday, with action beginning at 11 a.m. ET / 10 a.m. CT in the 3,000m run.
Buffalo // Doug Raymond National Qualifier
KENT, Ohio – The University at Buffalo track and field team competed at the Doug Raymond National Qualifier hosted by Kent State over the weekend. Over the course of the two-day meet, athletes from across the northeast displayed their talents. Among them, the Bulls showed they could compete with top programs.
DAY ONE RECAP
Shevaughn Allen went into the day undefeated in the men's long jump and it would stay that way after he jumped to a personal-record distance of 7.35m/24-01.50.
Christina Wende showed her versatility as she finished eighth out of 40 runners in the 60-meter hurdles and finishing fourth in the long jump out of 32 athletes. Wende finished the 60-meter hurdles in 8.92 seconds and claimed a distance of 5.60m/18-04.50 in the long jump. Both results mark personal-records.
In the men's 60-meter hurdles, the Bulls had three runners finish in the top-15 in the preliminaries. Chinemerem Ononiwu (10th place – 8.56), Anthony Clark (14th place – 8.62) and Joseph Williams (15th place – 8.63) ran in a competitive field.
Wijitra Burapan claimed second place in the women's pole vault with a personal-record height of 3.82m/12-06.25. Burapan remains eighth in the UB all-time results list.
Asia Hoyte finished fourth in the weight throw as she threw a distance of 17.62m/57-09.75. This distance marks her second-best on the season.
DAY TWO RECAP
Shevaughn Allen's dominance carried over to the second day as he stayed undefeated and won the triple jump with a new school record of 16.09m/52-09.50. Allen won by neatly a full meter.
Benjamin Cardamone claimed second place in the 3,000 meter run in a season-best time of 8:32.26. Scott Loforte (sixth place – 8:43.74), Armani Merlino (eighth place – 8:47.12), Matther Mercer (ninth place – 8:48.11) and Louis Greco (14thplace – 8:54.23) all had respectable races.
In the women's 3,000m, the team's cross country talents were displayed as Riley Jones (third place – 10:05.67), Meghan LaTuso (fourth place – 10:06.96), Alexia Hecico (11th place – 10:28.39) and Lily Meek (12th place – 10:28.66) all had season-best times as Jones and LaTuso add personal-records.
Christopher Nowak (seventh place – 4:16.59), Cal Puskar (11th place – 4:20.65) and Alex Hislop (13th place – 4:23.24) finished in the top-15 in the men's mile run. UB and Akron were the only schools to have three runners finish in the top-15 out of 37 runners.
Samantha Vetter had a career day as she knocked six seconds off her mile time to a season-best time of 5:26.97.
Nakia Williams finished in second place in the high jump with a height of 2.09m/6-10.25. In the men's pole vault, Steven Gilfus set a season-best height of 4.00m/13.01.50.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bulls will head back to Akron, Ohio for the Zips Invite which will be held on Friday, Feb. 21 at 10:30 a.m. in the Stile Athletics Field House. This will be the Bulls' last meet before the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships which will be held at the Stile Athletics Field House from Friday, Feb. 28 through Saturday, Feb. 29.
Central Michigan // GVSU Big Meet
Friday | Saturday
ALLENDALE, Mich. – Central Michigan's Lauren Beckmann placed third in the women's 1-mile run on Saturday at the Grand Valley State University Big Meet.
Beckmann finished in 5:03.92. CMU will now look ahead to next weekend's Silverston Invitational and then the Feb. 28-29 Mid-American Conference Championships at Akron.
Kasey Staley placed fourth in the women's pole vault at 12 feet, 6 ¾ inches to lead the Chippewas on Friday at the Big Meet.
Staley's vault was a personal best, one of several recorded by Chippewas on Friday.
"We made some really big improvements where we needed to make some big improvements," CMU director of track & field/cross country Jenny Swieton said. "Kasey Staley in the pole vault, Jackson Blanchard (60-meter hurdles) and Alexandria Robinson in the 60-meter hurdles had significant PRs. We had a lot of good performances."
CMU Placers
• Isaac Sadzewicz and A.J. Ferns placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the men's pole vault. Sadzewicz went 15-5 ¾, while Ferns finished at 15-0.
• Alyssa Vandegriff and Alexandria Robinson placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the women's high jump, both at 5-4 ¼.
• Blanchard placed sixth in the men's 60 hurdles in 8.10 seconds.
• Emma Fountain placed 10th in the women's 800-meter run, finishing in 2:13.57, a PR by five seconds.
• Ja'La Taylor placed 12th in the women's triple jump, 35-9 ½.
• Mark Beckmann finished 13th in his heat of the men's 5,000-meter run, 14:43.78; Riad Rababeh was second in his heat, 14:55.66.
• Madi Mandelke placed 14th in the women's 600 meter run, 1:37.
Swieton
"I think the best thing about this weekend is we had a lot of people step up," Swieton said. "There's people on the team, like Logan Targgart and Nadia Williams, who are ranked really high nationally that are important to the team.
"But it's also important that we're a well-rounded team and we can get things done across the board. I think a lot of people stepped up into those roles today.
"Those big performances are really good for their confidence going into MACs. I think what they did best was to support one another. They made a conscious effort to really do everything they could to cheer for one another and help each other out. That makes a big difference; it really showed in the results."
Eastern Michigan Women // Music City Challenge
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (EMUEagles.com) – Three members of the Eastern Michigan University women's track and field team represented the program at the Music City Challenge Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Vanderbilt Student Rec Center.
Redshirt junior Karlie Swanson (New South Wales, Australia-Bellingen (Boise State)) and sophomore Janay Hall (Fayetteville, N.C.-South View (N.C. State)) each recorded personal-best times in the mile run. Swanson claimed 19th place with a time of 4:54.66, while Hall was 24th as she crossed the finish line in 4:55.92. For her part, Hall also placed 34th overall in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:17.24.
Despite taking a tumble in the 3000-meter race, redshirt senior co-captain Emily Smith (Somerset, England-Wells Cathedral School) still managed to finish in fifth place as she set a season-best time of 9:41.21.
Eastern will conclude its indoor regular season slate Friday, Feb. 21 when it returns to the University of Michigan to compete in the Silverston Invitational.
Kent State // Doug Raymond National Invitational
KENT, Ohio – Kent State track and field came away with victories in five events on the men's side and one victory on the women's side Saturday at the Doug Raymond National Qualifier held in the Kent State Field House.
Drew Johnson, Nate Cousino and Justin McKeal all posted personal-best times in victory. Johnson claimed first place in the men's one-mile run with a time of 4:11.36. Cousino secured the top spot in the men's 800-meter run (1:52.33) and McKeal finished first (8:31.47) in the men's 3,000-meter run, crushing his previous best time by 17 seconds.
Christian Champen finished on top in the men's seeded pole vault, clearing a height of 17'-1.5" to match his season-best mark. Mitchell Kubicki secured second place with a height of 16'-7.5" and Lukas Van Der Watt finished in fifth (15'-7.75').
The men's 4x400 relay team of Justin Dwyer, Zavien Parker, Asa Hodrick and Korie Davis II also earned a first-place finish (3:16.61).
Alyssa Matheny was the only Flash on the women's side to claim a victory. Matheny cleared a height of 51-8.5" in the women's high jump, a new season-best height. Lillie Franks finished right behind in second place, clearing 51-6.5".
Grace Tennant and Gabby Bailey finished in back-to-back places in the women's shot put as well. Tennant secured a second-place finish with a throw of 48'-10.25" and Bailey came in third with a distance of 48'-4.5".
Anthony Milliner finished second in the men's triple jump with a top mark of 501-1.75".
Jack McElligott, TJ Lawson, Brad Jones and Jacob Mally all cleared 6'-6.25" in the men's high jump. McElligott cleared the bar on his first attempt to take third place.
The Flashes will host the Kent State Tune Up on Saturday, February 22 to conclude the indoor regular season.
Miami // GVSU Big Meet
ALLENDALE, Mich. - Another weekend of indoor action concluded for the Miami track and field team as the RedHawks competed on Saturday at Grand Valley State's Big Meet.
In yesterday's action, Olivia Bechtel set a pair of school records in the 200 and 400 while several other RedHawks had personal best performances at GVSU. Finley Mclear followed up his record setting 800 run with another win in the event on Friday as well.
The 800 was another highlight event Saturday - on the women's side, three athletes finished in the top five in a field of over 100 runners. Emily Akin got the win in the event, posting a time of 2:11.85 that was just off her PR pace. McKenna Fry had a good run as well after a great showing in the mile on Friday, taking second behind Akin with a 2:13.17 time. Elena Pazman rounded out the Miami trio, posting a new personal best in the event and earning fourth with a time of 2:13.44. Jordan Grant also had a PR in the event and finished tenth.
Elsewhere on the track, both Sarah Bruns and Gabby Cossio had PRs in the 200, while Sonia Slusarczyk did the same in the 400.
In the field, Miami had another strong day in response to a good series of results on Friday. Grace Rigel, who set a new PR in the shot put yesterday, came close to reaching that mark again Saturday but still earned third in the event. Hannah Falcione had two top-tens, jumping 11.86m for second and the triple jump and 5.40m for ninth in the long jump.
On the men's side, Andrew Schroff continued his great weekend after a good performance in the mile yesterday. In the 800, Schroff took second and hit a new personal record with a run of 1:51.64. Jeremiah Hunter nearly hit an indoor PR himself as he too took second in his event, running a 21.97 in the 200.
Jack Francetic had a great showing in the pole vault, clearing a new personal-best height of 4.77. This garnered him a second-place finish as well.
The RedHawks will have one more tuneup meet at Notre Dame's Alex Wilson Invitational next weekend before the MAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 28-29.
Northern Illinois // Iowa State Classic
AMES, Iowa – Redshirt sophomore Ashley Tutt (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) of the Northern Illinois University women's track and field team set a new school record in the 5,000 meters as the Huskies completed in a pair of different events this weekend, traveling to the Iowa State Classic and the GVSU Big Meet.
Tutt set the new school mark at the Iowa State Classic with a time of 16:20.13, also the best in the Mid-American Conference this season, breaking the previous NIU school record of 16:39.83 set by Kelsey Hildreth at the Meyo Invitational in 2015. Tutt's time, which was good for eighth in an extremely fast field at Iowa State, is the fastest in the MAC this season by nearly nine seconds.
Redshirt senior Jehvania Whyte (Kingston, Jamaica/Vere Technical) won a pair of events at the GVSU Big Meet, taking the title in the long jump invitational as well as the triple jump invitational. In the triple jump, the NIU All-American posted the best mark in the MAC this season with a leap of 12.86m (42-02.25), setting new meet and facility records as she easily surpassed second-place Kyra Arendt of Milwaukee (12.29m).
In the long jump invitational, Whyte posed the fourth best mark in the MAC this season at 5.93m (19-05.50) while taking the crown just ahead of Western Illinois' Bo Brasseur (5.92m). Two other Huskies finished in the top-six as sophomore Jazmyn Smith (Pinecrest, Fla./Gulliver Prep) claimed fourth with a leap of 5.73m and junior Kenyae Majors (Burlington, N.C./Hugh Cummings) was sixth with a mark of 5.55m.
Senior Remy Amarteifio (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) earned a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at the GVSU Big Meet, running a time of 8.61 seconds in the final, just 0.07 seconds off her best time of the season, which is the second-fastest in the MAC in 2020.
Smith qualified for the final in the 60-meter dash at the GVSU Big Meet with a time of 7.67 seconds, the eighth best in the conference this season. The sophomore from Pinecrest, Fla., then ran a time of 7.73 seconds in the final to finish eighth.
In the 400-meter dash at the Big Meet, senior Grace Harris (Dousman, Wis.) and sophomore Kaitlyn Lewis (Liberty, Mo./Liberty) posted an identical time of 55.72 seconds, the eighth-best time in the MAC this season, to finish eighth.
Along with Tutt at Iowa State, senior Melissa Ricci (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) ran the sixth-best time in the MAC this season in the mile, clocking in at 4:54.34, while junior Nora Finegan (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) ran the league's seventh-fastest time in the 800 meters at 2:12.44.
Two more regular season meets await as the Huskies will travel to the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame and the Eastern Illinois Friday Night Special in Charleston. Both meets will take place next Friday, February 21, and are the final meets of the indoor season before the conference championship at Akron (Feb. 28-29).
Ohio // Doug Raymond National Qualifier
KENT, Ohio -- Senior Ashleigh Kitrell (Oakland, Neb.) and redshirt senior Madison Sury (Waterford, Ohio) produced top-three finishes in their respective events this afternoon on the final day of the Doug Raymond National Qualifier hosted by Kent State at the Kent State Field House.
Kitrell took third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.60 while Sury finished third in the mile run by crossing the finish line in a personal-best 5:03.17.
Junior Abby Moore (Rootstown, Ohio) placed eighth in the shot put with a toss of 13.57 meters. Her top-eight finish in the shot put came a day after she won the weight throw with a toss of 18.27 meters.
Next Friday (Feb. 21), the Bobcats will be in Akron to compete in the Al Campbell Invitational.
Toledo // GVSU Big Meet
ALLENDALE, Mich. – The Toledo women's track and field team closed out competition at the GVSU Big Meet in Allendale, Mich. on Saturday. The Rockets tallied eight personal-bests this weekend at the GVSU Big Meet.
"This was a good, smaller meet to go to in preparation for the MAC Championships and we posted some seasonal and personal bests," said associate head coach Adrian Ghioroaie. "Raynesha Lewis finished third in the triple jump with a mark close to her personal-best and Rayna Horner looked strong in the 400 meters."
Senior Raynesha Lewis placed third in the triple jump with a mark of 11.75m and junior Chloee Kleespies threw a mark of 12.06 to tie with Morgan Reed (Western Illinois) and Timyah Meeks (Saginaw Valley). On the track, sophomore Holly Nation clocked a personal-best of 9.94 in the 60-meter hurdles. Sophomore Rayna Horner posted a time of 58.66 in the 400m and fellow sophomore Allison Vogl clocked a personal-best of 8.16 in the 60-meters prequalification round.
Up Next
The Rockets will compete in Michigan's Silverston Invitational in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Feb. 21. Field events are scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. with track events starting at 5:00 p.m.
Western Michigan // GVSU Big Meet
ALLENDALE, Mich. – Western Michigan track and field continued its impressive weekend at the Grand Valley State Big Meet, once again having several athletes turn in personal-best performances on Saturday.
The biggest improvements came in the weight throw with Makayla Rawls, Audrey Pickering and Emily Meier all recording new personal bests. Pickering threw a distance of 54-2.50 (16.34m), Meier a distance of 50-8.75 (15.46m) and Rawls reached a distance of 44-2.50 (13.47m). Pickering was one of three Broncos to finish in the top 10, taking ninth overall. Taylor Eaton led the team with a distance of 55-5.75 (16.91m), taking sixth overall. Junior Aniya Davis finished in eighth place with a distance of 55-0.25 (16.77m). Meier, Madison Ochs and Pickering also all finished in the top eight of the shot put. Meier took fourth with a distance of 44-0.75 (13.43m), Ochs in seventh at 43-6 (13.26m) and Pickering in eighth at 42-3.50 (12.89m).
Senior Erica Sheahan tied for eighth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.83 seconds, while junior Tauja Foreman had a new personal-best after running a time of 7.95 in qualifying. Senior Erin Dowd competed again in the 400-meter dash, running a time of 55.31 seconds to take third overall. Jasmine McLemore took ninth with a time of 58.18 and Alex Bryantfinished right behind her in 10th with a time of 58.22. Dowd also went on to take sixth in the 60-meter hurdles after finishing with a time of 8.91 seconds
In the 800-meter run freshman Annalise James was WMU's top finisher with a time of 2:18.68, while Kiley Ward had a new personal-best time of 2:19.54. Senior Juliane Sormain took eighth overall in the mile run after finishing with a time of 5:05.39.
Sophomore Kaylin Mince took 17 seconds off of her previous personal-best in the 3,000-meter run after setting a new mark of 10:58.02.
The Broncos are off next week before heading to Akron for the 2020 Indoor Mid-American Conference Championships on Feb. 28-29.
