Inspiring Performances All Weekend For CMU Track & Field

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan track & field coach Jenny Swieton was beaming with pride and overflowing with joy on Saturday after her young squad posted a fifth-place finish in the Mid-American Conference Championships at CMU's Jack Skoog Track.

The Chippewas finished with 60 points. They went into the final day of the two-day meet in second place, but there was absolutely no disappointment for Swieton and her team.

"I couldn't be happier with how our team performed this weekend," Swieton said. "We outscored what we were projected to. We came together and everybody who competed, competed super hard.

"Even if they didn't score, they had a season best or an all-time best performance and they just competed with everything that they had. There was a lot of fire to show people that we belong at the top of the MAC."

Northern Illinois won its first MAC Indoors women's title with 127 points. Akron (104) was second. Eastern Michigan won the men's crown with 184, eight better than runner-up Akron.

For the Chippewas on Saturday, Emma Fountain was fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:13.75; Reghan Draper was fourth (7.57) and Kaitlynn Rush was eighth (7.64) in the 60-meter dash; Erin Howard placed fourth in the shot put (15.68 meters); and Taylor Korytkowski, Fountain, Peyton Korytkowski and Jericha Petrella combined to place fifth in the 4x400 relay (3:53.23).

Howard, a senior, is the lone upperclassman of that entire bunch.

"I'm so excited with where we're going," Swieton said. "We do have veterans who have stepped up huge and done such a great job at leading this young team; we're so grateful for them and the example they have set for our younger group.

"We have a lot of young kids and a lot of first-time MAC scorers. It's huge to have so many first-time scorers. That's really, really big. I couldn't be more excited. The freshmen came in and expected to score. They weren't afraid or worried; they just expected to score because they see that from the upperclassmen. They picked up on that right away and they did it.

"I couldn't be more proud."

Howard placed seventh last year in the shot put at the MAC Indoor Championships and she was seeded seventh this year. She was second in the event in 2019.

The performance of the Chippewas' 4x400 relay team – all four are freshmen -- had the entire squad buzzing as they won their heat by more than 5 seconds, a significant margin in that event.

"They really got it done," Swieton said. "Some of those girls ran the open 400 (on Friday) and were a little timid, and (Saturday) they just threw the gloves off and went for it. I think that really hyped everybody up

"For them, especially for as young as they are, to go out and compete like that … they gave everything they had. It meant so much to the whole team for them go out and do that -- just like everybody else did all day and all weekend."

Fountain also turned in an inspiring performance with her fourth-place finish in the 800, Swieton said, particularly considering that Fountain is a sophomore.

"She just went for it like she's been there a million times before and that was her first time ever in the final," Swieton said. "She really competed with confidence. Super awesome."

The Chippewas' collective performance throughout the weekend, and the entire indoor season for that matter, bodes well for the future, Swieton said.

"This season was super fun," she said. "We didn't know going in how it was going to be because of all the different restrictions and stuff and this crew just worked so hard, but they know how to have fun too. We as coaches had a lot of fun with them and I think you get big performances when you're enjoying what you're doing, and everybody did that.

"I couldn't have asked for more."

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Players Mentioned

Reghan Draper

Emma Fountain

Erin Howard

Peyton Korytkowski

Taylor Korytkowski

Jericha Petrella

Kaitlynn Rush