Chippewas Host MAC Indoor Championships
2/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Seventeen teams and scores of student-athletes will compete this weekend in the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at Central Michigan's Jack Skoog Indoor Track & Field Complex.
A dozen women's teams and five men's teams comprise the field in the two-day event, which begins on Friday and is scheduled to conclude early Saturday evening. The Kent State women and Akron men are the defending championships.
Mark Guthrie, CMU's director of track and field/cross country, said that while he doesn't expect either of his teams to necessarily contend for a team title, there are several Chippewas capable of medaling and of perhaps qualifying for the NCAA Championships, which are March 14-15 at Arkansas.
"From our team perspective, we're still in the whole rebuilding process," said Guthrie, who is in his second season in charge of the program. "We have better talent than we did last year, but the talent is primarily in the freshman class. And so they're not sophomores, they're not juniors, so it's going to take a couple more years yet."
Still, the Chippewas have several student-athletes capable of competing at a high level, beginning with throwers Devene Brown, Cole Walderzak and Dylan Banagis. Guthrie said he expects a highly competitive environment in both the shot put and the weight throw this weekend.
"The throws in the MAC are as competitive as any conference in America," he said. "If you look, both in the men's and women's top three throwers, they are some of the best in the United States. So that's pretty unique."
CMU high jumper Matt Mueller, who cleared 7 feet, ¼ inch earlier this season, is ranked among the top two in the league and should contend for a first-place finish.
Distance running, in both genders, is also one of CMU's strong suits. Guthrie said he expects the likes of Silas DeKalita, Ben Wynsma and Nate Ghena to be in the hunt on the men's side, while senior Abbey Kelto is clearly one of the league's top female distance runners and junior Kelly Schubert is also quite capable, Guthrie said.
Last fall, Kelto became the first CMU woman in more than 25 years to qualify for the NCAA cross country championships, and she has set Chippewa indoor records in both the 3,000 and 5,000 this season.
CMU's women also feature a potentially strong 4X400 relay team, while Tina Davis has put together a solid freshman season in sprints. Davis, Guthrie said, will eschew the 200 and concentrate solely on the 60.
"We're trying to get an advantage over everyone else who is doubling," he said. "So you hope that on day two the tired legs versus fresher legs will make the difference."
Guthrie is fully aware that both of his squads may be a year or two away from making a serious charge at their respective league championships. He said this season, and this meet in particular, are crucial to development. He structured a schedule in 2015 with the aim to expose his relatively young team to strong competition in big-meet settings in order to help lay the foundation.
"This is why we went to the bigger meets throughout the season, to the Spire and Notre Dame, so we could get to this setting a little more comfortable," he said. "They're working their rear ends off, they give me everything they can 99 percent of the time. It's just that whole process. It's just going to take time. And you really get exposed at these kinds of competitions, showing what you have."
Friday
• Pentathlon (60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, 800 meters), 10 a.m.
• Heptathlon (60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump), 10:20 a.m.
Friday - field events
• Men's weight throw, 11 a.m.
• Women's weight throw, 1:30 p.m.
• Men's long jump, 2:30 p.m.
• Women's pole vault, 3 p.m.
• Women's long jump, 4:45 p.m.
Friday - running events (all events are trials, except where noted)
• Women's 60-meter hurdles, 3 p.m.
• Men's 60-meter hurdles, 3:17 p.m.
• Women's 400-meter run, 3:30 p.m.
• Men's 400-meter run, 3:45 p.m.
• Women's 60-meter dash, 3:58 p.m.
• Men's 60-meter dash, 4:10 p.m.
• Women's 800-meter run, 4:22 p.m.
• Men's 800-meter run, 4:40 p.m.
• Women's 200-meter dash, 4:50 p.m.
• Men's 200-meter dash, 5:03 p.m.
• Women's 5,000-meter run final, 5:15 p.m.
• Men's 5,000-meter run final, 5:35 p.m.
• Women's distance medley relay final, 5:55 p.m.
• Men's distance medley relay final, 6:12 p.m.
Saturday
• Heptathlon (60-meter hurdles, pole vault, 1,000-meter run ), 9:45 a.m.
Saturday - field events
• Women's triple jump trials/final, 11 a.m.
• Men's shot put trials/final, 11 a.m.
• Men's high jump trials/final, 11:45 a.m.
• Women's shot put trials/final, 1 p.m.
• Men's triple jump trials/final, 1:30 p.m.
• Men's pole vault trials/final, 2 p.m.
• Women's high jump trials/final, 2 p.m.
Saturday - running events (all finals)
• Women's mile, 1:15 p.m.
• Men's mile, 1:35 p.m.
• Women's 60-meter hurdles, 1:55 p.m.
• Men's 60-meter hurdles, 2:05 p.m.
• Women's 400-meter run, 2:15 p.m.
• Men's 400-meter run, 2:25 p.m.
• Women's 60-meter dash, 2:40 p.m.
• Men's 60-meter dash, 2:50 p.m.
• Women's 800-meter run, 3 p.m.
• Men's 800-meter run, 3:10 p.m.
• Women's 200-meter dash, 3:20 p.m.
• Men's 200-meter dash, 3:30 p.m.
• Women's 3,000-meter run, 3:40 p.m.
• Men's 3,000-meter run, 3:55 p.m.
• Women's 4x400 relay, 4:15 p.m.
• Men's 4x400 relay, 4:30 p.m.
Awards ceremony, 4:55 p.m.
Players Mentioned
