Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Ranked Highly Going Into MAC Championships
2/23/2012 12:00:00 AM | MTF
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MOUNT PLEASANT – Months of preparation have led to this weekend for the men's indoor track and field team: the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships in Akron, Ohio.
“The men are going into this meet on a very high note knowing that if they relax, focus and execute, they can do some really great things,” director of track and field and cross country Willie Randolph said.
The two-day competition will begin Friday at 11 a.m. with the heptathlon sections of the 60m hurdles and preliminary races in the 60m hurdles, 60m dash, 200m dash, 400m dash and 800m run. Finals in the 5,000m run will also be held. The remainder of the final heats will be run Saturday.
Approximately half of the field events will take place throughout the day on Friday, with the other half occurring on Saturday. The heptathlon sections of the men's long jump and women's high jump, the women's weight throw and long jump, and the men's pole vault, weight throw and long jump will all be contested Friday.
A full meet schedule is available here.
A number of student-athletes have posted marks and times that rank among the best in the conference this season, setting them up favorably for success this weekend. Three Chippewas are owners of the best performance among MAC student-athletes in their event, four have the second best, and another four have the third best.
A total of 19 student-athletes have turned in efforts that rank them among the top seven in their events.
Senior multi-event competitor Josh Kettlewell is ranked first in both the heptathlon and the pole vault. With a score of 5,673 in the seven-event heptathlon, he leads the MAC by about 500 points – over fellow CMU multi-event competitor Tim Reynolds – and his mark of 17-01 in the pole vault is tied for the best in the conference this season.
Sophomore long distance runner Tecumseh Adams possesses the fastest time in the conference in the 5,000m run, and is a close second in the 3,000m run. His 13:53.08 performance earlier this season is just shy of 20 seconds faster than the next best mark, held by Terefe Ejigu of Eastern Michigan. Ejigu (8:01.8) narrowly edged out Adams (8:02.39) in the 3,000m run at the Meyo Invitational by just over a half second.
Senior thrower Kevin Mays is ranked first in the weight throw, but will not be competing due to a non-athletic medical issue. Senior Ryan McCullough, fresh off his MAC Field Athlete of the Week award, is ranked second among those competing with a mark of 65-04.75.
Senior Kevin Bacon is ranked second in the long jump with a season-best mark of 23-10 – just four inches shy of the best in the conference.
Junior hurdler Renaldo Powell has posted the second-fastest time (8.18) in the 60m hurdles this season. Fellow hurdler sophomore Cory Noeker is ranked fourth in the event (8.29), and Kettlewell is fifth (8.33).
Junior Andrew Kruskamp enters the weekend third in the high jump with a mark of 6-09.75.
The 4x400m team is ranked third in the conference with a time of 3:15.86.
Adams isn't the only strong distance runner competing this weekend; redshirt freshmen Kyle Stacks and Ethan Lievense are ranked third (14:34.81) and sixth (14:49.49), respectively. Junior Jason Drudge is just behind in seventh with a time 14:49.62.
Sophomore Ross Parsons leads the sprinters with a fourth-place seed in the 200m dash (21.82) and a fifth-place rank in the 60m dash (6.91). Junior Greg Knaus is ranked seventh in the 60m dash (6.96).
Sophomore Adam Lohner is ranked seventh in the pole vault (15-11.25).
Complete results, a recap and photos will be posted following the completion of each day of competition.
