MAC Indoor Championships Preview

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan track and field program will compete at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Kent State Field House in Kent, Ohio.

Competing at the championships for the Maroon and Gold will be 16 freshmen, 13 sophomores, 11 juniors and 11 seniors.

The competition begins at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday and live results can be viewed here.

On the women's side the Chippewas will be competing against 11 other MAC foes and the top eight spots will be scored. For the men, five MAC institutions will compete and the top six finishes will be scored.

Tickets for the competition are $10 per day for adults and $5 per day for youth (ages 3-12). For a two-day pass, tickets will be $15 for adults and $8 for youth. Tickets for students with MAC Institution IDs are $2.

The heat sheets for Friday and Saturday can be found in the additional links section.

Sprints/Hurdles

Freshman Chantel Edwards and junior Diamond Hamilton are set to compete in heat two of the 60-meter dash preliminaries while sophomore Dejanae Terry will compete in the third heat of prelims. Edwards, Hamilton, and Terry will enter the weekend with seed marks of 7.80, 7.67, and 7.81 respectively. Freshman Malik Peacock will make his MAC Championship debut competing in the 60-meter dash with a seed mark of 7.01. Junior Curtis Mitchell will join Peacock with a mark of 7.09.

In the 200-meter dash, senior Kelsey Ritter will compete in the second heat of prelims with a seed mark of 24.88. On the men’s side Mitchell and freshman Brad Parsons will also compete in the 200-meter dash with marks of 22:35 and 22:08.

Central Michigan’s 400-meter dash record holder Shawntoreah Turk enters the weekend with a mark of 53:76. Turk placed fifth at the 2012 Indoor MAC Championships with a time of 54:74. Juniors Bridget Doughty and Ravyn Baxter return from the 2013 season after competing in the 4x4 relay. Senior Clay Holman will compete with a seed time of 48.15 in the 4x400-meter relay while freshman Malik Vasquez makes his championship debut with a mark of 48.91. Holman was a part of the 2013 MAC Indoor Championship fifth place 4x400 team.

The Maroon and Gold will send two 4x400-meter relay teams to the Championships. On the women’s side, Turk, Baxter, Doughty, Ross, junior Emma Fishnick and sophomore Lexi Mielke will compete with a mark of 3:46.15. On the men’s side, Holman, Vasquez, Mitchell, Allinder, and senior Parker Scott enter the weekend with a seedtime of 3:13.39.

Freshman Quincy Briggs and senior Relando Powell will compete in the 60-meter hurdles. Briggs adds his first Indoor Championship to his resume with a mark of 8.47 while Powell enters the weekend with a mark of 7.80.

Middle Distance

Freshman Kelsey Ross and junior Kyle Allinder will be the lone Chippewas competing in the 800-meter run. Ross enters the weekend with a mark of 2:11.48 while Allinder owns a mark of 1:51.54. Sophomore Alyssa Dyer will compete in the one mile run with a mark of 4:53.68. Junior Ethan Lievense enters the weekend with a mark of 4:12.34 while teammate Nathan Huff posts a 4:12.90. Lievense placed fifth in the mile run at last year’s indoor championships with a time of 4:15.47.

Distance

Returners senior Krista Parks, junior Monte Scott and Lievense look to improve times from last year’s championship with the help of the youth. Parks will compete in the 3000-meter and 5000-meter runs with marks of 9:59.11 and 17:00.80 respectively. Freshman Kelly Schubert and sophomore Breanne Lesnar will compete along side Parks in both events. Lievense, Monte Scott and teammate Nate Ghena will run in the 3000-meter run. Ghena will also compete in the 5000-meter run with freshman Spencer Nousain.

The Chippewas will rely on two distance medley teams this weekend including Freshman Esther Bell and Michaela Bundy, Mielke and junior Abbey Kelto on the women’s squad. For the men freshman Tyler Hamilton, Huff, Parker Scott and Lievense are set to compete. The distance medley relay is made up of a 1200-meter leg, a 400-meter leg, an 800-meter leg, and a 1600-meter leg.

Jumps

Competing in the high jump for CMU is Seniors Megan Heffner and Samantha Stein and sophomore Shaya Wilkerson. Heffner and Stein tied for sixth place in the 2013 Championships. Heffner enters the weekend with a mark of 5-07.41 and Stein with a 5-04.13 mark. Wilkerson will jump with a mark of 5-03.47. On the men’s side sophomore Matt Mueller and freshman Melvin Harris will compete with marks of 6-07.25 and 6-05.61 respectively.

Four Chippewas will compete in the pole vault. Sophomore Micaela Conter and senior Kelly Morrissey enter the weekend with the same mark of 11-08.11. Teammate junior Halley Love will join Conter and Morrissey with a mark of 11-04.82. Freshman Tony Armstrong will compete for the Maroon and Gold with a seed mark of 15-03.21 on the men’s side.

Sophomore Markala Goodson makes her Championship debut in the long jump entering the weekend with a mark of 18-01.18. The men’s Nicholas Malliaras enters the weekend with a 22-01.12 mark.

Wilkerson will compete in the triple jump along with sophomore Craig Mauldin and senior Michael Johnson. Wilkerson placed eighth last season and enters the weekend with a mark of 39-04.35. In the 2013 season, Mauldin finished sixth for the Chippewas and enters with a mark of 45-06.69.

Throws

Sophomore Devene Brown will compete in the weight throw and shot put for the Chippewas. Brown will enter the weekend with seed marks of 56-02.00 and 45-02.75 for each event respectively. Freshman Kylee Dobbelaere will join Brown in the weight throw event with a mark of 54-07.24. Senior Alex Rose will throw for the Maroon and Gold in the shot put (57-08.66) and weight throw (61-00.56). Rose placed sixth in the weight throw last season. Teammate Cole Walderzak will compete in the shot put with a mark of 54-03.30. Senior Calvin Johnson and freshman Dylan Banagis are set to compete in the weight throw. Johnson will enter the weekend with a mark of 58-09.89 and placed fifth last season. Banagis will compete with a mark of 57-08.41.

Pentathlon

Fishnick will compete for the Chippewas in the Indoor Pentathlon. This event consists of the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and the 800-meter run.