Central Michigan University Athletics
Track & Field Heads To Michigan State
4/5/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
SETTING THE SCENE
The Central Michigan track & field team will partake in the Michigan State Spartan Invite on Friday and Saturday at MSU's Ralph Young Track and Field Facility in East Lansing.
The meet gets underway on Friday at noon and on Saturday at 11 a.m. Follow the Chippewas on Twitter @CMUTrack
SMALL ROSTER
With temperatures in East Lansing expected to be in the low to mid-30s over the weekend, the Chippewas send only a fraction of their team members to compete. Because of the forecast the high jump, long jump, triple jump and pole vault will be contested indoors at Jenison Field House.
FRIDAY
Friday's schedule comprises just three events: the pole vault, hammer throw and triple jump. CMU's Amber Wagner and Sam Wagner will participate in the women's and men's pole vault, respectively, when the meet begins at noon.
FOUR FRESHMEN
CMU's Marissa Dunn, Quiara Wheeler, Maya Bennett and Mara Clark will throw in the women's hammer, while Connor Covert, another freshman, will be the lone Chippewa in the men's hammer throw. Dunn and Wheeler placed ninth and 10th, respectively, in the hammer throw at last week's Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State.
HOWARD AT HOME
Erin Howard is entered into both the women's discus and shot put events on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. The redshirt freshman from Lansing posted three shot-put victories during the indoor season and was fourth last weekend at the first outdoor meet of her collegiate career. Her outdoor debut also included a seventh-place finish in the discus at 160 feet, 4 inches.
JAVELIN
• CMU's Avery Joseph will compete in the men's javelin for the second straight week after placing fourth in the event at N.C. State. The junior launched the javelin 203-3 1/4, which is the third-best distance on the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Performance List.
• Seniors Wendy Szuminski and McKenzie Wieber, along with freshmen Megan McElroy and Jayden Williams, will represent the CMU women in the javelin. McElroy holds the best mark on the team at 134-4.
ON TRACK
The majority of the Chippewas competing in the running events will be at the middle distances. On the women's side, Ana Garcia Arias, Katie Kasper, Kirsten Olling and Erin Zdrojewski will run in the women's 1,500 meters, while Olivia Allmen, Anna Flanders, Brooke Judd, Paula Merino, Morgan Merlino and Elisa Pokorny will run in the 400.
• All of those women, with the exception of Judd, will join sophomore Emily Starck in the 800. It will be the largest number of Chippewas in a single event at MSU
• CMU's Alec Esparza, Kenny Goolsby and Alec Omell are scheduled to run in the men's 1,500; Emmett Smrcka will run in the 800.
NEXT
CMU is scheduled to compete next weekend in two meets: The Ole Miss Joe Walker Invitational and the Oakland Golden Grizzly Invitational.
