Central Michigan University Athletics
Season Preview: Young Chippewas Ready to Compete
1/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
MOUNT PLEASANT – The youthful women's indoor track and field team is ready to begin its 2012 season.
Though the Chippewas have a number of returning runners who have competed at the MAC Championships, freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores make up more than 60 percent of the rosters, which is a status that excites Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Willie Randolph.
“It's exciting to have that many underclassmen returning, mixed in with our returning upperclassmen,” he said. “It speaks volumes for your future, because you had so many young athletes who came right out of the box scoring. All of them are really focused and very ready to go and compete at the highest level. It's exciting, but you still take it step by step and focus on being a competitive athlete.”
The team's youth is balanced by a number of experienced veterans and returning student-athletes who competed last year at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship Meet.
“We are definitely relying on all experienced athletes to come back and help the younger athletes understand the environment and compete at the highest level,” Randolph said. “It is extremely important to have athletes who are experienced on the championship level on your team year in and year out.”
Competing at the highest levels is the main goal for the Chippewas, both individually and as a team, regardless of how young the team is.
“Our goals year-in and year-out are to win the MAC Championship, and get as many people as we can to the regional, if not the national, championships,” Randolph said. “Representing our program on the highest level is always the main goal.”
Though the Chippewas lost five of their student-athletes who scored at the 2011 MAC Indoor Championships, ten will be back this season looking to improve upon their strong performances from a year ago. CMU finished seventh of 12 at the meet.
With her third-place finish in the high jump, sophomore Samantha Stein is the top finisher from last season's MAC Indoor Championships returning this season. Senior Misha Lamphere and sophomore Megan Heffner will also be key contributors in the jumps this season.
For the distance team, senior Christina Farrow finished fifth in the 800m run last season, junior Maddie Ribbant finished seventh in the mile run, and senior Holly Anderson finished ninth in the 5000m run. Also playing important roles for the distance team this season are senior Veronica Garcia, junior Charnele Lyons, sophomore Krista Parks and freshman Breanne Lesnar.
Veteran leadership and experience returns in the sprinting events for the Chippewas, even after the graduation of 60m dash record-holder Jordan Dunn. Seniors Kirlene Roberts, Dierra Riley, Raquel Gibbs and Stephanie Hurley will lead the team, while sophomores Kelsey Ritter and Shawntoreah Turk and freshmen Ravyn Baxter and Diamond Hamilton will continue to develop and contribute.
Following two titles in two years by recently-graduated Shanaye Carr, the hurdlers will seek to earn a third consecutive MAC Indoor 60m hurdles title this season. Junior Tamica Harbour, who won the 60m dash at the season-opening GVSU Laker Early Bird, is the top returning hurdler. Joining her are freshmen Bridget Doughty and Emma Fishnick, and sophomore Megan Heffner.
Heffner and Fishnick, along with senior Emily Dienhart, will be the Chippewas' multi-event competitors this season in the heptathlon. The heptathlon is a combination of seven events (three running, four field) in which an athlete competes. At the conclusion of the seven events, the individual with the highest score in each of the events earns the most points.
Junior Kayla Brindley returns as the top thrower this season. She is joined by freshman Kyla Walworth.
