Chippewas Collect Rapid-Fire Scoring in MAC Outdoor Day Two

AKRON, Ohio — One silver and two bronze medals came for the Chippewas in the final hour of Friday's action at the 2023 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the University of Akron's Lee R. Jackson Track & Field Complex. Central Michigan stands sixth in the championship standings after Friday's action in a four-way battle for third as Ball State (38 points), Buffalo (37 points), Bowling Green (34 points) and CMU (32 points) sit within a six-point window.

Central Michigan's exclamation point on a successful day came with a side-by-side finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase—the final event of the evening—as Emily Paupore and Anya Turner claimed second and third in the event. Turner's 10:32.02 improved her standing in the CMU record book to fifth all-time while Paupore remains as the program's historic runner-up.

While the barriers were being set out, the book was closing on the long jump. Two more top-five finishes came for the Chippewas on the runway, led by Hayley Manners with a third-place leap of 6.18 meters. With a spot in the finals on the line, Sarah Daniel stepped forward to become just the seventh CMU athlete all-time to clear six meters (6.01), finishing fifth overall.

Mohogany Wells was the first in maroon and gold to reach the podium Friday with a 52.19-meter heave of the hammer to finish seventh. Emily McLean picked up the momentum with back-to-back personal-best tosses of the shot put, settling at 13.48 meters, to reach the finals and finish ninth.

Two qualifying attempts on the track came within inches of making Saturday's finals. Reghan Draper clocked in an 11.87-second 100-meter dash—just five one-hundredths from entry in the final—while Alexis Gourrier finished the 800 meters in 2:14.88—less than a half-second from that final.

Along with the previously-scheduled finals of discus, the pair of relays, the triple jump and the 5,000 meters, CMU will have finalists in the 1,500 meters—Anya Turner—and the 400-meter hurdles—Olivia Hankey and Emma Francis—in Saturday's final day of the 2023 MAC Outdoor Championships.

NCAA Championship Preliminary Watchlist
As conference championships continue across the nation this weekend, two Chippewas sit inside the top-48 cutoff line for the NCAA Championship Preliminaries in the East:

Hayley Manners: Long Jump, 21^st; 6.28 meters at Louisville's Clark Wood Invitational
Emily Paupore: Steeplechase, 37^th; 10:25.73 at Grand Valley's Extra Weekend Meet

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Daniel

Reghan Draper

Emma Francis

Alexis Gourrier

Olivia Hankey

Hayley Manners

Emily McLean

Emily Paupore

Anya Turner

Mohogany Wells