Another Program Record For Chippewa Women

Saturday, January 19

South Bend, Ind.

Central Michigan University

Notre Dame Invite

Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

1/19/2019 7:33:00 PM | MTF, Track & Field

RESULTS

CMU fourth at Notre Dame

By: Nick Vuylsteke, CMUChippewas.com

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Another meet, another program record for the Central Michigan women's indoor track and field team.

CMU's Rebekah Petty and Siobhan Szerencsits both cleared 13 feet, ¾ of an inch in the pole vault on Saturday at the Notre Dame Invitational at the Fighting Irish's Loftus Center. They both broke the previous program best, 13-1/4, set in 2017 by Petty. The pole vault mark came one week after both Nadia Williams and Janelle Perry broke the program long jump record at CMU's Jack Skoog Open.

The pole vault record and three firsts highlighted the Chippewas' performance in the five-team meet. Both the Chippewa men and women placed in fourth. The CMU men scored 66 points, and the women finished with 79.5.

CMU FIRSTS
All three CMU firsts came from the women, with Williams winning the long jump (20-3 ½), Samantha Cuneo placing first in the 400 (54.83 seconds), and Williams and Cuneo teaming up with Gabriella Beauvais and Simonae Dismuke to win the 4x400 relay (3:47.92).

POLE VAULT RECORD
Petty finished third and Szerencsits placed fourth.

"It's really exciting for Petty because she's in (physician assistant) school and to be jumping at that caliber while attending PA school is a really big deal," CMU Director of Track and Field Jenny Swieton said. "And for Szerencsits breaking the school record as a freshman is really exciting.

"It's like with Nadia Williams and Janelle Perry (in the long jump). How Perry pushed Williams to a new level, I think it's a really similar thing with Petty and Szerencsits where they're pushing each other to be better. This just shows how training partners are."

TOP TWOS
Williams and Perry again finished one-two, respectively, in the long jump. Perry posted a jump of 19-11 1/2.

Beauvais finished second in the 400 in 55.07 seconds, giving the Chippewas a top-two sweep in that event with Cuneo winning.

"That was really big for us because, No. 1, that was a really good time for us this early and No. 2, Cuneo was been off since last year's indoor MAC (Championships) with a foot injury, so that was a huge step forward for her," Swieton said.

CHIPPEWA MEN
Logan Targgart led the Chippewa men with a second-place finish in the weight throw at 65-4 ¾. It was Targgart's first meet of the season after having undergone surgery last summer.

The CMU men also got second-place finishes from Jeron Kelley (60-meter dash), Kevin Weiler (shot put), Ryan Taylor (triple jump), Benjamin Hayes (400) and Emmett Smrcka (800). CMU was also second in the 4x400 relay (Jackson Blanchard, Jack Dodge, Roshawn Morton and Hayes). Dodge placed third in the 400, and Connor Covert was fifth in the weight throw.

OTHER PLACERS
Other scorers for the CMU women: Dismuke, third, 200; Erin Howard, fourth, shot put; Quiara Wheeler, fourth, weight throw; Williams, fifth, 60; Ja'la Taylor, fifth, high jump; Megan O'Neil, fifth, mile; Hannah Davis, sixth, mile; Tamara Grahovac, sixth, triple jump; Perry, sixth, 60 hurdles; Calli Stemple, sixth, high jump;

SWIETON'S TAKEAWAYS
• "I feel that our team is well rounded enough that at every meet there's going to be so many different highlights."

• "The biggest thing is that everyone competed, and that everyone's performances weren't exactly what people wanted. But we had a lot of PRs, and everyone's at the point to where they're really competitive. So someone could have a PR and not be happy about it. But, we need to know that we're making progress and doing what we need to do."

• "I think it was a really good day for us. Some people got the opportunity to get out there and get into the thick of some good heats and good races and see what they can do and see what they need to work on."