Howard Wins Twice To Lead Track & Field On Warmup Weekend

Saturday, May 1

South Bend, Ind.

10:30 a.m.

Central Michigan University

Notre Dame Bob Harris Open

Photo by: Mackenna Kelly

5/1/2021 6:35:00 PM | Track & Field

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Erin Howard won the shot put and the discus and Central Michigan track & field student-athletes won two other events on Saturday at the Notre Dame Bob Harris Open.

Howard won the shot put with a toss of 15.26 meters (50 feet, ¾ inch) and the discus with a 51.26 (168-2) throw.

CMU's Kasey Staley won the pole vault with a 3.99-meter vault (13-1) which was just shy of her career best. The Chippewas' other win came from Ana Garcia Arias in the steeplechase, 11:36.78.

On Friday at the Grand Valley State Extra Weekend Meet in Allendale, CMU's Emily Paupore and Lauren Beckmann finished first and third, respectively, in their heat in the 5,000-meter run. Paupore finished in 17:04.04; Beckmann in 17:07.79.

"We had a good weekend all around," CMU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jenny Swieton said. "We got off to a good start at Grand Valley with Emily and Lauren in the 5K. they both had substantial personal records and competed really well.

"We took advantage of every opportunity we had at Notre Dame. Everyone competed hard. Our field athletes showed up and had some top finishes highlighted by the return of Quiara Wheeler in the throws. Kasey Staley was taking jumps at the program record in the pole vault again."

The meets served as a final warmup ahead of next weekend's Mid-American Conference Championships at Miami (Ohio).

The Chippewas, as usual, were strong in the throwing events as Quiara Wheeler placed second in the hammer throw (61.99 meters; 203-4), while Marissa Dunn (56.85; 186-6) was third, and Mohogany Wells (48.28, 158-5) was seventh.

Wheeler placed fourth in the discus (45.82, 150-4) and Aliyah Boeve (41.96, 137-8) was sixth. CMU's Rebecca Herman was fifth in the discus (44.76, 146-10) and sixth in the shot put (13.13, 43-1).

CMU's Anya Turner (11:58.59) was second and Jelena Prescott (12:06.26) was third in the steeplechase.

The Chippewas' Annie Laurenz placed third (1:04.69) and Emma Francis was fourth (1:05.67) in the 400-meter hurdles, and CMU got fourth-place finishes from Lucia McElwain in the long jump (5.04 meters, 16-6 ½), from Taylor Korytkowski in the 400-meter dash (57.10), and from Alexa Davis in the 800-meter run (2:15.36).

CMU had three top-10 finishers in the 1,500-meter run. Morgan Merlino (4:45.43) was fifth, Natalie Newcombe (4:52.51) was seventh, and Maddy Boyd (4:57.32) was ninth.

Also for CMU, Jericha Petrella (57.87) was fifth in the 400; Madi Mandelke was sixth (2:18.89) and Morgan Merlino was eighth (2:25.73) in the 800; and Alyssa Vandegriff was seventh (1.60 meters, 5-3) in the high jump.