Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron // Campbell Invitational
AKRON, Ohio – For the second consecutive week, redshirt sophomore Noah Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) established a school-record time in the men's 400 meters winning the race in a time of 46.20 to headline the performances of the Akron track and field team at the Al Campbell Invitational on Friday, Feb. 21, at the Stile Athletics Field House.
The Zips culminated their preparations for next weekend's Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Akron, winning 11 events and earning 33 overall top-three finishes.
This year marked the first year that Akron's final indoor meet of the regular season has been named in honor of the late Zips' track and field coach Al Campbell. Formerly the Zips Invitational, the meet was dedicated with Campbell in attendance at the 2019 Campbell/Wright Invitational this past May.
Campbell, who passed away in December, spent over 30 years as a coach and educator at the University of Akron, while also coaching women's teams at Walsh University for nearly 20 years.
Williams' effort in the 400 meters represented the ninth-fastest performance in the NCAA this season.
Senior Shawnn Foster (Cheektowa, N.Y.) registered a career-best mark of 61-3 (18.68m) to win the women's weight throw. Her effort equals the No. 5 mark in indoor program history. She also placed second in the women's shot put with a mark of 27-10.25 (8.49m).
Senior Lucy Bryan (Bristol, England), redshirt junior Abby Helminiak (Toledo, Ohio) and freshman Rachael Ward (Jamestown, N.Y.) took the top-three spots in the women's pole vault eclipsing 14-6 (4.42m), 13-0.25 (3.97m) and 12-6.25 (3.82m), respectively.
Seniors Matt Keim (Bollivar, Ohio) and Tyler Fraker (Delta, Ohio) each cleared 16-6 (5.03m) to place first and second, based on jumps, in the men's pole vault.
Akron captured the top-five finishes in the men's long jump as freshman Haruki Sakai (Katori, Japan), junior Jayce Shaffer (Lawrenceville, Ga.), freshman Caleb Mabins (Erie, Pa.), redshirt freshman Avalonn Harper (Wooster, Ohio) and redshirt junior Brandon Hochbein (Sarver, Pa.) recorded marks of 23-1.25 (7.04m), 22-10 (6.96m), 21-11 (6.68m), 21-10.75 (6.67m) and 21-8.75 (6.62m).
Redshirt junior Olivia Weslien (Karlstad, Sweden) turned in a career-best time of 9:59.29 to win the women's 3,000 meters.
Junior Leah Recker (Findlay, Ohio) and freshman Morgan Jankowski (Brook Park, Ohio) swept the top-two finishes in the women's 800 meters in times of 2:15.83 and 2:19.36.
Sophomore Kassandra Roemer (Kaiserlautern, Germany) won the women's long jump with a mark of 18-9.75 (5.73m), while sophomore Sara Foster (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) recorded a career-best mark of 17-9 (5.41m) to place second.
Sophomore Malcom Briley (Pickerington, Ohio) won the men's 60 meters in a time of 6.90, while Shaffer placed third in a career-best time of 6.95.
Redshirt sophomore Milton Wilson (Streetsboro, Ohio), freshman William Gross (Newfane, N.Y.), redshirt sophomore Jacob Hutcherson (Uniontown, Ohio) and freshman Jabari Neal-Jackson (Cincinnati, Ohio) swept the top-four spots in the men's weight throw with marks of 59-8 (18.20m), 59-4 (18.09m), 54-10 (16.72m) and 53-5 (16.30m).
Freshman Caden McGing (Mentor, Ohio) recorded a career-best mark of 6-6.75 (2.00m) to capture the men's high jump.
The women's 4x400 relay team of freshman Julia Frombach (Avon, Ohio), seniors Varvara Lissichkina(Karaganda, Kazahkstan) and Victoria Stachowski (Waterford, Mich.) and freshman Makenna Heimlich(Shelby, Ohio) capped the evening efforts for the Zips winning the race in 3:54.82.
Freshman Zarik Brown (Dayton, Ohio) posted a career-best time of his own in the men's 400 meters crossing the line second in 47.24, the fifth-fastest effort in indoor program history.
On the strength of a career-best time of 9.18, Foster placed second in the women's 60-meter hurdles.
Senior Maike Anstett (Karlsruhe, Germany) earned a second-place effort in the women's high jump besting the bar at 5-4.25 (1.63m).
Akron finished second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the women's 400 meters as seniors Iman Batiste (Dublin, Ohio), Bailey Lack (Brunswick, Ohio), Lissichkina and Stachowski posted career-best times of 56.75, 56.90, 57.30 and 57.57.
Senior Tanea Cousins (Chillicothe, Ohio) finished second in the women's triple jump with a mark of 37-5.75 (11.41m).
Freshman Blake Lucius (Crestline, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Oliver Huffman (Augusta, Ga.) placed second and third in the men's 800 meters recording career-best times of 1:52.27 and 1:55.54.
Redshirt junior Patrick Kimball (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished third in the men's 60-meter hurdles crossing the line in 8.26.
Senior Jeremiah Fitzgerald (Mantua, Ohio) registered a career-best time of 8:37.82 to finish third in the men's 3,000 meters.
Throughout competition on Friday, Akron honored its seniors competing in their final home meet, that list includes: Anstett, Batiste, Bryan, Cousins, Fitzgerald, Foster, Fraker, Marcques Gibbs (Darby, Pa.), Dylan Hochbein (Sarver, Pa.), Haley Hess (Curtice, Ohio), Malik Hudson (Cleveland, Ohio), Keim, Lack, Stachowski, Nick Stricklen (Lexington, Ohio) and Alyssa Thomas (Uniontown, Ohio).
Akron will host the MAC Indoor Championships next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-29, at the Stile Athletics Field House.
Ball State // Ball State Tune-Up
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State indoor track & field team entered Friday's Ball State Tune-Up looking to set the tone for next week's Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships hosted by Akron.
They did that and more inside the BSU Field Sports Building, logging a school record, two new MAC automatic qualifying marks, 11 event wins and 16 career-best performances.
In a meet dominated by big performances, senior thrower Kelsey Walters (Troy, Ohio/Troy) stole the show by breaking the previous program record in the shot put in three of her six throws.
Her longest came on her fourth attempt, when she tossed the shot 15.15m, which is also a MAC automatic qualifying mark. However, she also beat the previous program record of 14.77m in both her second (14.83m) and fifth (14.97m) attempts.
"Kelsey was the star of the meet," head coach Brian Etelman said. "She's been knocking on the indoor record for two years now and it's great to see her break it. She's now set both our indoor and outdoor records in the shot put, which tells you how much hard work she's put in over her career."
Ball State's second MAC automatic qualifying mark came in the 200m, which senior Bryeana Byrdsong(Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central) won in 24.64. However, because of Ball State's track size, the time converts to 24.27 for ranking purposes and gives Byrdsong her second MAC automatic qualifying mark of the season.
Byrdsong had already posted a MAC automatic qualifying mark in the 60m with a time of 7.58 at the Gene Edmonds Memorial Invite (Jan. 10), but was able to better the effort tonight with a first-place time of 7.56.
"Bryeana looked really good tonight," Etelman said. "She turned in a pair of awesome performances and looked the sharpest she has all season."
Freshman Charity Griffith (Arlington, Ind./Rushville) also picked up a pair of event victories, winning both the high jump (1.62m) and long jump (5.22m) with career-best efforts.
Also winning individual events for the Cardinals were: senior Megan Graves (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) in the weight throw (17.76m), redshirt freshman Kennedy Batts (Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central) in the 60m hurdles (8.90), freshman Vivian Van Eck (Shorewood, Ill./Minooka Community) in the mile (5:06.04), senior Peyton Kneadler (Monticello, Ind./Twin Lakes) in the 800m (2:16.58) and junior Dejah Johnson(Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central) in the 600m (1:34.47).
The Cardinals closed out the meet with a first-place time of 4:53.86 in the 4x400m relay comprised of redshirt sophomore Cayla Eckenroth (Novi, Mich./Northville), freshman Grace Dean (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North), sophomore Meghan Hedrick (Norwalk, Ohio/St. Paul) and Kneadler.
Next up for the Cardinals, the 2020 MAC Indoor Championships which begin Friday and run through Saturday at Akron's Stile Athletics Field House.
"We had a lot of people look better today than they have all year," Etelman concluded. "That's exactly what you want momentum wise rolling into the MAC Championships."
Buffalo // Campbell Invitational
AKRON, Ohio – The University at Buffalo track and field team competed at the Al Campbell Invite hosted by the University of Akron on Friday evening. The meet was held in the Stile Athletics Field House where the Bulls faced MAC opponents in Akron and Ohio. As UB rested some athletes, some Bulls were able to reach season-best results.
To start the day on the track Leon Atkins had a strong debut in the mile run. Atkins finished in second place and was narrowly edged by .37 seconds from first place. He finished in a time of 4:13.45. Patrick Hazlitt claimed fifth with a season-best time of 4:15.83.
On the women's side of the mile run, four Bulls stampeded to personal-best times. Alexia Hecico (sixth place – 5:09.69) led the way as Lily Meek (seventh place – 5:12.14), Rachel Barich (ninth place – 5:20.61) and Saroja Rao (14th place – 5:29.57) ran competitive races.
Antoinette Miller claimed first place in the high jump as she jumped 1.63m/5-04.25.
Nisa Raqib continued her dominance in the triple jump as she won yet again. She finished the day with a distance of 12.02m/39-05.25. She also went on to win the 60-meter hurdles in a season-best time of 9.03 seconds.
In the men's 60-meter hurdles, Anthony Clark was just shy of passing his personal-best time as he finished in 8.07 seconds.
Hannah Roof vaulted to a personal-best in the pole vault as she reached a height of 3.82m/12-06.25. This height was good enough for a fifth place finish as she beat athletes from Youngstown State and Ohio State.
"We had a strong meet today with several athletes reaching personal-best marks," head coach Vicki Mitchell stated. "The focus was on the final preparations for the MAC Championships next week. We need to build up our confidence from today."
Central Michigan // Silverston Invitational
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Quiara Wheeler won the women's weight throw and Erin Howard was first in the women's shot put on Friday to lead the Central Michigan track & field team at the Michigan Silverston Invitational at the U-M Indoor Track Building.
It was CMU's final tuneup meet ahead of the Mid-American Conference Championships, scheduled for Feb. 28-29 at Akron.
Wheeler, a junior from Flint, won the weight throw with a toss of 63 feet, 9 ¾ inches. Her throw measured more than three feet longer than that of the runner-up.
Howard, a junior from Lansing, won the shot put at 48-11.
The Chippewas got second-place finishes from Logan Targgart in the men's weight throw, from Kasey Staley in the women's pole vault, and from Hayley Manners in the women's long jump.
Targgart's weight-throw toss measured at 71-5 ½, a meet record. Staley posted a best vault of 12-8 ¾, while Manners' long jump measured at 18-6 ½.
CMU's Maya Bennett placed third in the women's weight throw (57-4 ¾), and the Chippewa men got a third-place finish from Emmet Smrcka in the 800-meter run (1:54.09).
Other CMU placers: Marissa Dunn, fourth, women's weight throw, 57-4 ¼; Parker Aerts, fourth, men's 60-meter hurdles, 8.33; Connor Covert, fourth, men's shot put, 54-3 ¼; Jayden Williams, fifth, women's 400-meter dash, 58.96; Siobhan Szerencsits, sixth, women's pole vault, 12-2 ¾; Clay Langer, sixth, men's long jump, 18-9 ¾; Targgart, sixth, men's shot put, 49-6 ½; Rebecca Herman, seventh, women's shot put, 44-8; John Mitrzyk, seventh, men's 60-meter dash, 7.16; Emma Francis, eighth, women's 400-meter dash, 59.76; Ja'la Taylor, eighth, women's long jump, 17-4.
Eastern Michigan Men // Silverston Invitational
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's track and field team collected six top-three finishes at the Silverston Invitational Friday, Feb. 21 inside the U-M Indoor Track Building. The meet marked EMU's second trip of the season to the University of Michigan after it competed at the Wolverine Invitational, Jan. 11.
Redshirt freshman Eddie Zuercher (Rocky River, Ohio-Rocky River) was the runner-up in the mile run with a time of 4:15.89, while freshman harrier Toby Gualter (Tawa, New Zealand-Tawa College) was right behind in third place as he crossed the finish line in 4:16.28. From there, sophomore Joe Ingram (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson) won his heat of the mile and finished fifth overall with a mark of 4:18.73.
Meanwhile, redshirt junior Devonte Findlay (Lauderhill, Fla.-Blanche Ely) was the clear front-runner in the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries with a time of 7.01 seconds, but did not compete in the final race. Additionally, freshman Kyle Martin (Ypsilanti, Mich.-Ann Arbor Huron) was third in the 60-meter dash prelims at 7.02, and placed fourth in the final race with a time of 7.01. For his part, Martin also placed fifth in the 200-meter dash as he shattered his personal-best with a time of 22.57.
EMU continued to earn podium places, as freshman Frankie Grey (Brentwood, N.Y.-Brentwood) finished second in the 200-meter dash at 21.95 seconds, while redshirt freshman Alec Frymier (Hilliard, Ohio-Hilliard Bradley) claimed third place with a time of 22.55. Elsewhere in the sprint events, sophomore Charlie Young (Grand Haven, Mich.-Grand Haven) ranked third in the 400-meter dash as he clocked in at 50.18.
The Eagles also took three of the top five spots in the weight throw competition. Redshirt senior Taige Bryant (Edmond, Okla.-Edmond Memorial) came in third place with a distance of 21.29 meters, while redshirt senior Zach Harkey (Huron, Ohio-Huron) and freshman Kappa Bedoui (Doha, Qatar-Aspire Academy) both eclipsed the 20-meter plateau to rank fourth and fifth with throws of 20.56 and 20.26, respectively.
Eastern wraps up its indoor regular season slate Saturday, Feb. 22, as it sends five men to the Alex Wilson Invitational hosted by the University of Notre Dame, before competing at the 2020 Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships in Akron, Ohio, Feb. 28-29. EMU looks to earn its second MAC title in the last three seasons after finishing in second place last season with a team score of 153.5 points, just two-and-a-half points shy of first-place Akron.
Eastern Michigan Women // Silverston Invitational
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's track and field team concluded its indoor regular season schedule at the Silverston Invitational Friday, Feb. 21 inside the U-M Indoor Track Building.
Freshman Hanna Hearn (Laurel, Miss.-Brebeuf Jesuit Prep (Ind.)) earned the first event victory of her collegiate career, and was the only Eagle to top the podium during the program's second trip this season to the University of Michigan. After Hearn captured her heat of the 60-meter dash preliminaries with a personal-best time of 7.62 seconds, she shattered her career mark in the title race with a time of 7.46. From there, sophomore Alysse Wade (Mansfield, Ohio-St. Peter's) placed fourth in the 60-meter hurdles final with a time of 8.57 seconds, while sophomore Angel Gazaway (Cincinnati, Ohio-Princeton) finished fifth overall at 8.63. Elsewhere on the track, sophomore Lexi Seifert (Waterford, Pa.-Villa Maria Academy) also placed fifth in the mile run with a mark of 5:07.93.
In the field events, junior Kadian Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica-Immaculate Conception) was runner-up in the weight throw with a mark of 18.51 meters, and also led the Eagles in the shot put as she placed 10th overall with a toss of 12.67 meters. Additionally, junior Quintella Johnson (Las Vegas, Nev.-Saint Mary's (Texas Southern)) came in second in the high jump at 1.71 meters while freshman Daishon Spann (Coral Springs, Fla.-Atlantic Technical Center) tied for third place with a leap of 1.66 meters. For good measure, sophomore Nina Ward (Fairfield, Ohio-Fairfield) was fourth in the long jump and fifth in the high jump with marks of 5.51 and 1.61 meters, respectively, while junior Graysen Simmons (Huber Heights, Ohio-Wayne) finished fourth in the pole vault with a height of 3.73 meters.
Eastern now turns its attention to the 2020 Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-29 in Akron, Ohio. The Eagles finished last season's conference meet in second place with a team score of 91 points, after winning three of the previous four MAC indoor titles.
Northern Illinois // EIU Friday Night Special
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's track and field team competed in its final meet before the conference indoor championship on Friday night (Feb. 21) as the Huskies traveled to the Eastern Illinois Friday Night Special.
Senior Remy Amarteifio (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) turned in a top-three finish in both the 60-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles. In the hurdles, the Huskie senior recorded the second fastest time in the Mid-American Conference this season at 8.50 seconds to take third. Amarteifio led three Huskies in the top-six in the 60-meter dash, finishing second with a time of 7.79 seconds. Senior Britney Hew(Hanover, Jamaica/New Mexico JC) was third in 7.80 while freshman Jahnetta Jones (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) claimed sixth with a time of 8.02 seconds in the final.
Junior Kenyae Majors (Burlington, N.C./Hugh Cummings) was second in the long jump, recording a mark of 5.63m, just 0.02 meters shy of first-place Aanise Sajna's winning leap of 5.65m. Sophomore Diamond Riley (St. Louis, Mo./Ritenour) took second in the triple jump as her best jump of the competition measured 11.68m.
The Huskies had top-three finishes in both the 800-meter run and the 3,000 meters as sophomore Hannah Ricci (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) took third in the 800 with a time of 2:20.12. In the 3,000, junior Sara Atkins (Warrenville, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) was third recording a time of 10:24.70, just ahead of teammate Mercer Mack (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) who claimed fourth in 10:42.47.
Other top-five performances for the NIU came in the 200-meter dash where senior NeShay Curtis (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer South Berkeley) took fourth in 26.09 seconds and in the mile where junior Maggie Cavanaugh (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) claimed fifth with a time of 5:21.12.
Next weekend, the Huskies will travel to Akron, Ohio for the MAC Indoor Championships on Saturday and Sunday, February 28-29.
Ohio // Campbell Invitational
AKRON, Ohio -- The Ohio track & field team wrapped up the regular season portion of its 2019-20 indoor schedule with a strong effort at the Al Campbell Invitational hosted by Akron this evening at Stile Athletics Field House.
Senior Ashleigh Kitrell (Oakland, Neb.) won the 400-meter dash with a personal best time of 56.35 to break her own school record and also finished sixth in the 200-meter dash in 25.89.
Sophomore Autumn Mohan (Chillicothe, Ohio) turned in a first-place effort in the shot put courtesy of a toss of 12.13 meters.
Senior Tajah Haley (Washington, Pa.) took third in the high jump with a mark of 1.55 meters.
Two Bobcats placed in the top-four of the 60-meter hurdles, with freshman Mya King (Perry Hall, Md.) placing third in 9.22 and redshirt freshman Alaya Grose (Mansfield, Ohio) finishing right behind her in fourth with a time of 9.23.
Junior Hailey Bowes (Arlington Heights, Ill.) notched a fourth-place finish in the 3000-meter run by clocking a personal-best 10:05.36 while sophomore Stephanie Pierce (Fairborn, Ohio) crossed the finish line in a personal-best 5:08.83 to take fifth in the mile run.
Ohio will now set its sights on the 2020 Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships, which will be held Feb. 28-29 at Stile Athletics Field House in Akron.
Toledo // Silverston Invitational
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Toledo women's track and field team wrapped up its indoor regular season with the Silverston Invitational on Friday, with senior Petronela Simiuc breaking Toledo's 800 meter record by posting a time of 2:08.23 to place second. The previous record of 2:09.20 was set by Janelle Noe. The Rockets chalked up six top-10 finishes as well as an event win in the 3,000 meters.
"Petronela was composed and relaxed in her effort tonight and came in and took care of business." said head coach Andrea Grove-McDonough. "We wanted to get an 800 meter race in preparation for the next few weeks, but have it take a lot out of her. We accomplished that tonight. We also had a couple of really nice performances on the men's side in the mile tonight with a couple of nice personal bests from Jake Rethman and Cooper Losey."
On the track, junior Michelle Hostettler finished first in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:09.22, a mere second short of her personal-best. Joining Simiuc with Top 10 finishes in the 800m were junior Kennedey Glover in seventh (2:18.26) and freshman Emily Vining in ninth (2:19.63).
The Rockets had two contenders in field events. Senior Atalia Lima placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 5.38m and junior Chloee Kleespies posted a mark of 12.90m to take ninth in the shot put.
A few of the men's cross country runners also participated at the Silverston Invitational for spring training. Freshmen Jake Rethman and Cooper Losey posted personal-bests in the mile to take seventh (4:19.19) and eighth (4:22.63), respectively. Junior Jake Papish placed 10th in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:16.65.
