Central Michigan University Athletics
Women's Track Heads to Hillsdale Meet
4/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
MOUNT PLEASANT - For the first time this season, the Central Michigan University women’s track team will compete its whole roster of athletes in the same competition when it travels to the two-day Gina Relays at Hillsdale College this Friday and Saturday, April 27-28.
The Chippewas sat out several athletes at the season-opening Toledo Collegiate Challenge on March 31, then had their April 7 home meet cancelled due to weather. Only a partial squad traveled to the Sea Ray Relays on April 13-14, and last weekend the entire team competed but was split between two different events. Last weekend, a dozen athletes raced in the Auburn Invitational, while the rest of the team stayed closer to home at the Jack Shaw Classic meet at Western Michigan.
“I’m excited that we will finally compete our whole team in the same event at Hillsdale,” CMU head coach Karen Lutzke said. “I really want to see what we can do when we have all of our athletes in one competition. It’s been difficult to get a gauge on where we are because we’ve not seen everyone at the same place.”
Lutzke was with the athletes at Auburn last weekend, where she saw both Najah Floyd (54.11) and Jenaie Edwards (54.45) post NCAA regional qualifying times in the 400m while finishing 1-2 in the race. Additionally, freshmen Stephanie Byrne (56.64, sixth) and Erin Dillon (57.56, 10th) had top 10 finishes in the 400m.
“Our 400m runners really ran well, and Najah continued her success this year by running her first regional qualifying time,” Lutzke said. “She continues to get better and better, and it’s exciting to watch her development as an athlete.”
Auburn University is the defending NCAA outdoor champion, and the meet it hosted on Saturday featured several of the top athletes from across the country.
“It was a great experience for our athletes to be able to compete in that environment,” Lutzke said. “They were able to measure themselves against some outstanding competition. Plus, we had two great days of weather, which was a big boost for us after what we’ve faced during the rest of the season.”
This weekend, CMU will be one of more than 30 schools sending athletes to the open meet at the Ken Herrick Outdoor Track on the Hillsdale campus. The event is named for former Hillsdale track standout Gina Van Laar Lanser, who was an All-American in both track and cross country and was tragically killed at just 29 years of age.
Competition at the Hillsdale Relays begins on Friday. Field events start at noon with the men’s hammer throw competition, while running events open at 5:30 p.m. with the women’s 400m hurdles. The first day of action concludes with the men’s 5000m at 11:45 p.m.
Saturday’s schedule opens with the pole vault at 10 a.m., and running events start at 1 p.m. with the women’s 4x100m relay. The meet concludes with the men’s 4x400m relay scheduled for 7:50 p.m.
