Track & Field Tackles The Great Outdoors
3/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | MTF
Nate Perry, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The longest season in college sports is back for its final installment of the 2016-17 campaign.
After a month layoff, Central Michigan track and field will begin the outdoor portion of its schedule at the University of Tennessee for the Tennessee Rust Buster on Saturday.
With the notoriously unpredictable spring weather in Michigan, CMU, and many other programs around the state, seek refuge in warmer climates.
"When the weather doesn't change, you have to chase the weather," Central Michigan Director of Track & Field Mark Guthrie said. "It leads to more missed class time unfortunately, but it's something you have to do to make things work."
Along with the Rust Buster, delegations of Chippewas will compete at the William & Mary Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va., March 31-April 1, and the Baylor Bears Invitational in Waco, Texas on April 8.
Another benefit of these southern meets is that they will most likely feature top-level Division I talent, which will present Central Michigan with stiff tests early in the season.
"We need our kids to be ready to go and get into (these meets) and mix it up," Guthrie said. "It's always easy to just kind of stick your toe in the water and test it, but we've got to have our kids just get out there and go."
A few Chippewas are coming off strong showings at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships, and will look to build on that success in the great outdoors.
Samantha Cuneo, Central Michigan's lone indoor conference champion in 2017, is one of those promising athletes to keep an eye on, Guthrie said.
"I thought she looked really good last week; I was pretty excited without trying to get too excited," Guthrie said with a laugh. "But she's all-in, she's a great competitor and a super person, and she takes care of her business with her body. I don't see why she can't be up there toward the school record before she gets out of here."
Another is Dylan Banagis, a well-decorated senior thrower on the men's squad, who is looking to make the most of his final season in a Chippewa uniform.
"That's probably a conversation he's had with (throws) coach (Matt) Basler, but yeah we'd love to see him get to the national meet with this being his final year," Guthrie said. "I'm sure (Basler) has a plan for him to be ready to go when it matters the most, just like he did for indoor. We had him throwing his best at the end of the season."
Sophomore triple-jumper Jake Peister is entering his fourth track season and looks forward to the opportunity to continue his development.
"As a freshman you go through an eye-opening experience that there are guys out there that are just as good, if not way better, than you." said the Blue Springs, Mo. native. "I've come to value how hard you have to work, and if you want something you have to really set your mind to going out and getting."
Peister said he didn't reach his goal during last year's outdoor season, and is setting his sights on hitting his personal marks the second time around.
"I would love to get to the MAC Championships and win," he said. "I came close as a freshman but I was just too young and didn't have the right jump on the right day. Went to regionals after that, but didn't make the top 12 to get to the championship round. So, my goal there would be to get to nationals and be a Second Team All-American, if not first."
The Rust Buster will be held at the Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium on Tennessee's campus. The hammer throw will kickoff the action at 9 a.m.
