Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
MAC Indoor Championship
Men's Track Takes Third at MAC Championships
2/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | MTF
Feb. 25, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Central Michigan University men's track and field team simply could not match the depth of its two chief rivals as it dropped to third place on the second day of the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Perry Fieldhouse today. The Chippewas' total of 124.5 points was less than ten points behind second-place Kent State (134 points) and was well back of conference champion Eastern Michigan (171 points). After ceding the indoor title to CMU in 2005, the Eagles reclaimed the crown they've worn all but once since indoor track became an officially recognized conference sport in 1996.
"I couldn't be more proud of the guys on this team," CMU head coach Jim Knapp said. "We have some real thoroughbreds, but we just don't have the depth that we've had in the past. We lack the overall numbers to pile up the kind of points that it would have taken to win this thing. We could not have asked for any more than we got from this group over the last two days."
CMU won seven of the 17 events, three more than either Eastern or Akron, who both won four events, while Buffalo and Kent State won just one event each. However, the Chippewas had just one of the 15 non-relay events in which they had three people score - pole vault - while Kent had four such events, including a 1-2-3 finish for a whopping 24 team points in the heptathlon, and Eastern had five events in which it scored three times. In addition, CMU didn't score points in four of those 15 non-relay competitions, compared to two non-scoring events for Kent. Eastern scored points in every event in the two-day meet.
Two Chippewas were double-event winners this weekend, with Jeff Powers adding a win in the 3000m to his victory in the 5000m yesterday and Pierre Vinson sweeping the speed events, the 60m and the 200m. Vinson defended both of his titles from 2005, and he has now won eight consecutive conference titles in the premier speed events both indoors (60m and 200m) and outdoors (100m and 200m) since the outdoor season of 2004. His win in the 200m in a time of 21.85 came by just a hundredth of a second over Eastern Michigan's Roy Shavers (21.86).
CMU's Steve Wezner also had an outstanding meet for CMU. He won the 400m in 47.95, placed third in the 200m (21.91) behind Vinson and Shavers, and ran the anchor leg on the winning 4x400m relay team with teammates Greg Gogola, Abraham Mach and Fermon Tate.
All three of those standout athletes earned recognition at the conference meet as they took home the individual hardware thanks to their sterling performances. Vinson and Powers shared the meet's Most Valuable Performer award as each scored 20 points for the Chippewas, earning the honor. Wezner was named the meet's Most Outstanding Performer for his performances in all three of his events.
"All three of them were sensational this weekend," Knapp said. "Pierre showed what he's made of and what his talents are. He came from behind in the last 20 meters of the 200 and knew what to do at the finish line. Jeff had an incredible accomplishment in winning both those long races, and he did so in the 3000m by breaking the conference record with his time. He showed a great deal of courage in doing so. Steve is one of the toughest competitors I've ever coached. His anchor leg in the mile relay tonight was something to behold, running as fast as he did on the tight corners at this track. They're all special talents."
Mach added a second-place finish in the 800m (1:53.20) to his relay performance, helping contribute 18 team points to the Chippewas' effort. CMU's other scorers on day two of the meet were: Darryl Anglin, fifth in the 60m (6.88); Matt Warner, tied for fifth in the high jump (6-6 3/4); Mike Marsh, sixth in the shot put (53-8 1/4); Fermon Tate, sixth in the 400m (49.45); and Matt Loiselle, seventh in the mile (4:19.07).
Loiselle also scored yesterday in the 5000m with a fifth-place finish (15:00.59), earning CMU four points. Also yesterday, Dave Stallworth won the weight throw and senior Dave Jones scored big points for CMU with his performance in the pole vault, picking up eight points with a second-place finish. He cleared a height of 16-11 to finish as the runner-up in the event. Two other Chippewas scored points in the pole vault - Joe Hasler was fourth (14-11 1/2), netting five team points, and Paul Stewart was seventh (14-5 1/2) to earn two points for CMU. The distance medley relay squad comprised of Adam Koepfer, Ray Wilson, Paul Pridgeon and Donnie Richmond added five more team points in yesterday's last event, placing fourth with a time of 10:27.87. CMU led the meet after the first day with 45 team points.
CMU will send some of its athletes to the Alex Wilson Invitational hosted by Notre Dame next weekend in an attempt to get additional qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks. The Wilson Invite will be held on Mar. 3-4, with the NCAA meet to take place Mar. 10-11 at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.
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