Central Michigan University
MAC Outdoor Championships
Young, Dobbelaere Lead Chippewas On Day 1 Of MAC Championships
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
MAC Championships Day 1 Results
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
TOLEDO, Ohio - A good start, and something to build on.
Cole Walderzak broke his own school record in winning the men's hammer throw Thursday to highlight an excellent day for Central Michigan at the Mid-American Conference Championships at the University of Toledo Outdoor Track & Field Facility.
"We had a lot of PRs (personal records) today and a lot of athletes who moved up from their seed marks," CMU Director of Track & Field Mark Guthrie said. "We had a good day. We have a lot of positives to build on for tomorrow. We've just got to keep going."
The Championships continue on Friday and conclude on Saturday.
Walderzak, a senior, defended his championship in the hammer throw as his toss measured 215 feet, 7 inches. He set the former CMU standard, 212-11, during the 2015 season.
"Whenever you can get a personal best and that happens to be a school record in a championship event, win it, and get 10 points for your team, that was huge," Guthrie said. "You start breaking school records and throwing those distances, that's pretty doggone good. We're totally proud of him, and he should be proud of his effort."
CMU's Dylan Banagis, a junior, was third in the hammer throw at 202-4 1/2, a PR. The Walderzak-Banagis one-two punch accounted for 16 of the Chippewas' team points.
"Dylan showed up too and competed too," Guthrie said. "He was right there."
Freshman Avery Joseph placed fifth in the javelin at 193-10 ¾, also a PR.
The CMU men sit in second place behind Eastern Michigan (22).
On the women's side, the Chippewas are fourth with 15 points. Kent State is first with 31, followed by Akron, 27; and Ohio, 16.
For the CMU women, Kyleigh Young was second in the javelin at 144-11 ¼, while Olivia Shelton was seventh (127-11); April Micheaux is in third place in the heptathlon with three events to be contested on Friday; and Kylee Dobbelaere was fourth in the hammer throw (189-7).
Dobbelaere was seeded fifth coming into the meet.
"Probably the biggest thing in the hammer is we had a great group there and we changed the dynamic because our kids, our spectators, were screaming and yelling and encouraging," Guthrie said. "That was a big part, that energy."
Micheaux amassed 3,147 points in the heptathlon. Jacklyn Siefring of Akron leads with 3,345.
Micheaux, a freshman, won the shot put (41-2 ¼), was third in the high jump (5-2 ¼), fourth in the 200-meter dash (25.77) and fourth in the 100 hurdles (14.42). The heptathlon closes on Friday with the long jump, the javelin and the 800.
"She had a PR in the hurdles and a 1-second PR in the 200, which is pretty darned tough to do," Guthrie said. "She's having a great meet. Our goal is for her to score 5,000 or more points and right now she's on pace to do that. She's dialed in."
CMU's Nicholas Malliaras is seventh in the decathlon. He was second in the 100 (11.07); fifth in the long jump (21-2 ¾); sixth in the 400 (53.07); seventh in the shot put (34-10 ½); and tied for seventh in the high jump (5-8 ¾).
The 10,000 meter run was postponed until Friday because of lightning about six laps into the women's race. The women will re-start at 8:30 a.m., followed by the men.
Kirsten Olling and Kelly Schubert are competing for the Chippewa women, and CMU's Nate Ghena will run in the men's race.
"They were a mile-and-a-half in," Guthrie said of the women's race on Thursday night, adding that re-starting on Friday "affects everyone.
"You've got to erase it from your memory. It's like in baseball, you strike out three times and then you've got to hit one. They've got to forget (Thursday) and it's the same for everybody who steps on the track. At this point, it's more mental than physical. You've got to will yourself to that finish line."
Players Mentioned
