Chippewa Track & Field Kicks Off Indoor Season

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan University track and field teams will kick off the indoor season on Friday, Dec. 7, at the Grand Valley State Holiday Open at the Lakers' Kelly Family Sports Center.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m.

START OF THE SEASON RANKINGS
The CMU men's team was picked to finish fourth and the women's team selected to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll. Five teams comprise the men's league, 12 comprise the women's league.

Akron topped both polls. The CMU women's team received one first-place vote in the poll. The Chippewa women finished sixth and the men were fourth last season at the MAC Indoor Championships at Bowling Green.

"I think a lot of the times, the people who are rank these teams rank them in the same place where they finished last year," CMU director of track and field/cross country Jenny Swieton said. "So I don't take a lot of stock into that."

SEASON GOALS
Swieton said she wants the teams to perform well in the indoor season so they can use that momentum to potentially win an outdoor championship come spring time.

"We're trying to win a championship for the outdoor season," she said. "And hopefully we can do better for the indoor season as well.

"Each person has their own individual goals, but at the end of the day, our No. 1 goal is to win as a team. So we'll need everybody to be on their A game and doing the best that they can."

KICKING IT OFF
Friday will mark the first opportunity for the vast majority of the Chippewas – the nondistance runners -- to compete. For many athletes, this meet will be used to kick off the rust and gauge where they are.

Swieton said she has 54 athletes competing in the meet. The majority of these athletes are the younger sprinters, throwers, and pole vaulters, and she said it is a very important competition for these athletes.

"For the student-athletes who didn't participate in cross country, this is a really important meet because they've been training for a whole semester," she said. "It's really hard to train for a whole semester and not compete at all. Especially for the freshman, they need to see that all their hard work is paying off and getting to where they want to be.

"Obviously, we're not looking at this meet to be where we want to be at the end of the season, but if they can get an indicator of where they are, a lot of the time that motivates them to work harder over Christmas break."

The majority of the Chippewa distance runners will not be compete at Grand Valley. Among those who will sit out for some much-needed rest after the cross country season are Luke Anderson and Megan O'Neil, both of whom ran to First Team All-MAC honors in late October, and then ran, along with their teammates, at the Great Lakes Regional.

Among the veteran distance runners expected to compete on Friday are Kirsten Olling and Natalie Beaulieu.

NEXT
The Chippewas will host the annual Jack Skoog Open on Friday, Jan. 11 at the Jack Skoog Indoor Track. It is CMU's lone home meet – indoors or outdoors – of the season.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Luke Anderson

Natalie Beaulieu

Megan O'Neil

Kirsten Olling