Dozen Chippewas Head To East Preliminary
5/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | MTF
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A dozen Central Michigan student-athletes will line up with some of the best in the nation beginning Thursday at the NCAA Track & Field East Preliminary at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida.
The meet runs from Thursday-Saturday. The top 12 in each event advance to the NCAA Championships at the University of Oregon June 8-11.
"Every centimeter's important, every 10th of a second's important," said CMU Director of Track & Field, Mark Guthrie.
The 12 competitors are the most CMU has sent to the preliminary since the NCAA switched to two regionals from four in 2010.
"I think that indicates that, A we're getting better, and B we're getting athletes who can compete at the next level," Guthrie said. "The more athletes that we get who can be in the first round with a legitimate chance to get to the championships makes us a better team."
Two Chippewas who will compete this weekend, Cole Walderzak and Devene Brown, made it to the NCAA Championships last spring.
Brown earned All-America honors in the women's discus with a ninth-place finish. Walderzak was 19th in the men's hammer throw. Both are seniors.
Walderzak holds the highest ranking of any of the 12 Chippewas who will compete this weekend. He is 14th in the discus, with a season-best throw of 193 feet, 7 inches, and 24th in the hammer throw (215-7).
The rankings take into consideration all Division I athletes, including those who will compete in the West Preliminary this weekend at the University of Kansas.
Three other Chippewas - Ziemowit Dutkiewicz, Dylan Banagis and Kylee Dobbelaere - competed in the preliminary last season. All three are juniors.
Having competed under the pressure of the preliminary helps "a lot because you have that experience," Guthrie said. "It's the same facility so they've been on the ground and they're more mature.
"The farther you can go the more relaxed you become in those settings and you've got to be relaxed and confident to get the job done."
Dutkiewicz will compete in the men's 400-meter hurdles, Banagis in the men's discus and hammer throw, and Dobbelaere in the women's hammer throw.
The other Chippewas who will compete this weekend are junior Kelly Schubert, women's 10,000; sophomore Shane Moffo, men's 110 hurdles; senior Alyssa Dyer, women's 3,000-meter steeplechase; sophomore Kevin Weiler, men's shot put; freshman Jake Peister, men's triple jump; junior Kyleigh Young, women's javelin; and sophomore Sam Wagner, men's pole vault.
Being relaxed and confident are critical, Guthrie said.
"You've got to be on on the day, and you have to have the faith and the confidence," he said. "You compete within yourself and when you try to come up with something that's not realistic for you that's usually when things don't end up well."
Players Mentioned
