Back on Track
12/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan track & field team will kick off the indoor season this weekend at two events, both of which carry the moniker Holiday Open.
The majority of the Chippewa field event athletes along with the sprinters and multi-eventers will partake in the Holiday Open at Saginaw Valley State. A handful of CMU distance runners will run Friday in the Holiday Open at Grand Valley State.
The Chippewa men placed fifth (of five teams) last season at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships, while CMU was seventh of 12 in the women's standings.
The CMU men were picked to finish fourth and the women fifth in the preseason poll of MAC coaches.
Mark Guthrie, who is entering his fourth year in charge of the indoor program, said the Chippewas have plenty of talent and experience on which to build on both the men's and women's squads.
Prominent among the men's returnees are Benjamin Hayes and Kevin Weiler. Hayes, a long sprinter, earned the Mid-American Conference Track Freshman of the Year Award in both the indoor and outdoor season in 2015-16, while Weiler, a thrower, was the league's field event freshman of the year during the 2015-16 indoor season.
Among the other mainstays and top point producers who return for the men in the field events are pole vaulter Sam Wagner; triple jumper Jake Piester; long jumper Ali Taha; and high jumper Melvin Harris.
Guthrie said he is also high on freshman thrower Logan Targgart.
On the track, Lorenzo Wells and Berkley Edwards return to anchor the sprints for the Chippewas, while long sprinter Erick Huertas looks solid and placed fifth a year ago at the MAC indoors behind his teammate, Hayes. The two also comprised one-half of CMU's 1,600-meter relay, which set the indoor program record last season.
The distance races should again be a strength for the CMU men, with the likes of senior Silas DeKalita and freshmen Luke Anderson and Mark Beckmann joining veterans Casey Voisin, Spencer Nousain, Joseph Emmanuel and Scott Cousino
The Chippewas will rely on the likes of senior Nicholas Malliaras and junior Joseph Seghi in the heptathlon.
On the women's side, the Chippewas return several mainstays, including multi-dimensional threat Gabriella Beauvais, long sprinter Samantha Cuneo, middle-distance specialist Kelsey Ross, and a slew of talented distance runners who are coming off very good seasons in cross country during which the Chippewas finished fourth in the MAC Championships.
Guthrie is also high on the likes of junior April Micheaux, who was fourth in the pentathlon at the MAC indoors a year ago; hurdler Danielle Horton; and high jumper Emily Helfrich.
Leading the way among the aforementioned distance corps are Kirsten Olling, Megan O'Neil and Kelly Schubert, along with Hannah Davis, Esther Bell and Michaela Bundy.
Senior Kylee Dobbelaere returns to anchor the throws, while junior Rebekah Petty has shown plenty of potential in the pole vault and is healthy after battling injuries throughout her career.
Players Mentioned
