Central Michigan University
Eastern Michigan Triangular
Pair of Thirds for CMU Track & Field
1/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
EMU Results Saginaw Valley Results
Nate Perry, CMUChippewas.com
YPSILANTI, Mich. -- After competing exclusively against Division II and III programs this season, the Central Michigan men's and women's indoor track and field teams faced stiffer challengers on Saturday at the Eastern Michigan Triangular.
Kent State won the men's side of the meet with 117.5 points, while Eastern Michigan took the women's side with 115.
Central Michigan, missing a few of its top-level performers, finished with 74.5 points on the men's side and 78 on the women's.
Meanwhile, Mikaela Grant led a strong showing by the CMU women in the pentathlon at the Saginaw Valley State Jets Pizza Invitational. Grant won the event with 3,403 points. CMU's April Micheaux was third and Haley Nugent placed sixth.
The men's and women's weight throw was the first event of the day at Eastern Michigan. CMU stalwarts Dylan Banagis and Kylee Dobbelaere both finished as runners-up to throwers from Kent State.
Banagis' throw of 20.18 meters was bested by that of KSU's Reginald Jagers, whose heave of 21.12 was the best throw by any Mid-American Conference thrower this season.
Dobbelaere's mark of 17.84 was beaten by Gabriella Figueroa's 19.88.
Both Jagers and Figueroa are at the top of the MAC in the weight throw for their respective genders and both have already topped the MAC automatic qualifying standard for the event.
"(Jagers) is just a really good athlete, and today he was just better than Dylan," said CMU Director of Track & Field Mark Guthrie. "Hopefully, when it matters more at the conference meet, it'll be Dylan."
CMU freshman Nadia Williams continued her stellar start to her collegiate career winning the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.61 seconds. That time, her personal best, was good enough to add her name to the MAC automatic qualifier's list.
But Williams was far from finished.
She followed with another personal best in the 200-meter dash with a converted time of 24.62 seconds, which gave her a third-place finish.
Later, she came in second in the long jump with a 5.82-meter leap, just .02 meters short of the event winner, Dace Dreimane of Eastern Michigan.
"She had herself a nice little meet," Guthrie said of Williams. "(She was) a little frustrated coming up a little short in the long jump, but overall a very good day."
CMU's Hannah Davis won the women's 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:08.88, a career best.
There were several other Chippewas who caught Guthrie's on Saturday as well.
"I thought Sam Cuneo ran well in the (women's) 200," he said. "In the hurdles, I thought Aaron Taylor and Aisha Jackson ran pretty well. Logan (Targgart) had another nice meet with PR's in both the weight throw and shot put. Had some really nice times -- some lifetime PR's -- for our distance runners too."
Despite the final tally for the team-scoring portion, Guthrie was happy with what he saw from his team and pleased by how they responded to tougher competition early in the season.
"Now that you're into the game a little bit, you understand that that's kind of what track & field is: some good, some bad, some in the middle," he said.
At Saginaw Valley, Grant, a freshman from Fort Atkinson, Wis., was first in the long jump (5.51 meters), the 800 (2:33.43) and tied with Nugent in the high jump (5-3). She was third in the 60 hurdles and fourth in the shot put.
Micheaux won the 60 hurdles and the shot put and was second in the long jump.
The Chippewas are scheduled to go to the University of Notre Dame Meyo Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 4.
Players Mentioned
