Track and Field 6th through Day 1 of MAC Championships; Paupore earns Back-to-Back 5000m Titles

YPSILANTI, Mich. — It's only the first day of the 2025 Indoor Mid-American Conference Track and Field Championships, but for Central Michigan, it's already everything to write home about.

Emily Paupore dominated the 5000m to earn her second consecutive title in the event, two Chippewa pole vaulters saw podium finishes and a fifth-place finish from the distance medley relay squad all put points on the board for CMU, which after one day, stands sixth of 12 teams with 20 points.

Sophomore pole vaulters Riley Nielsen and Emily Yoshino leapt to the podium on Friday morning, with Nielsen placing 4^th with a height of 3.83m and Yoshino finishing 8^th. Nielsen's height, a career-best, moved her to the sole sixth spot in the CMU All-Time Indoor Record Book.

"I think the team atmosphere has been great this year," said Nielsen. "Everyone's been cheering each other on, our pole vault group has been awesome with the coaches and new additions to the team. We've been training really hard and it's been showing up."

Natalie Newcombe set the tone to kick off the running events, winning the mile preliminary. As one of ten to qualify for the finals, she will race at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday for the title.

Kate Jenkins and Joanna Kelley ran the 5000m alongside Paupore, finishing 22^nd and 23^rd, respectively.

Paupore finished the race in 16:22.39, twelve seconds ahead of the runner-up, to reprise her role as champion in the event.

"I'm really excited about it," said Paupore. "I definitely have seen a lot of progress through my five years here at Central; I think freshman year me would be really excited to see where I am now.

"It's definitely been day-by-day, making little steps towards meeting some of my goals and I was really excited to be able to repeat today. It was really fun."

As of current, Paupore is slated to run the 3000m on Saturday among 23 other runners, including Jenkins.

"I think Emily is a completely different athlete than she was last year at this time," said Director of Cross Country/Track and Field Jenny Swieton. "I think last year we came into the meet hoping she could win and knowing she had a chance, and this year she came in as the dominant favorite.

"I think it was sort of a weird position for her to be in, but everything she's done this season has proved that she has the ability to do that. It was just learning to have that new confidence in your ability, but physically, athletically, training wise, her and Natalie have both taken the next step together to be better, and it's fun that they can do that together."

The CMU Distance Medley Relay squad of freshman Olivia East, sophomore Sophia Garland, junior Libby Munderloh and sophomore Emma Janesak placed 5th with a time of 11:55.31, adding to CMU's score and finishing the day on a high note.

Also for CMU were freshmen Jada Pride and Ciara Rosenzweig, who competed in the 60m hurdles to place 16^th and 17^th, respectively. Freshman Danica Shamion placed 13^th in the 400m preliminaries, followed by Robyn Watts in 15^th. Kaitlynn Rush, a senior, placed 13^th in the 60m preliminaries. Sophomore Chesney Wilke and freshman Lois Creasey placed 10^th and 13^th in the 800m, respectively, and sophomore Gracie Merrick finished 21^st in the weight throw.

The Chippewas' support for each other as a team shone bright, with a significant portion of the non-competing team and men's cross country making the trip down to cheer their teammates on.

They'll cheer on Newcombe, Paupore and Jenkins on Saturday alongside Merrick, Emily McLean and Ereka Risner, who are slated to compete in the shot put and freshman Riley Kerr in the high jump, as well as the 4x400 team of Watts, Shamion, Munderloh and Garland.

"Honestly, it's what it's all about," said Swieton on the closeness of the squad. "At the end of the day, in 20 years, when they're all old and have families and jobs, they're going to remember the times with their teammates a lot more than they're going to remember the races.

"Great races come, but not all the time; but, you can have fun and enjoy your teammates every single day. I just think that is everything."

Follow Central Michigan Cross Country/Track & Field
TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

— CMU —

Track and Field 6th through Day 1 of MAC Championships; Paupore earns Back-to-Back 5000m Titles

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lois Creasey

Olivia East

Sophia Garland

Emma Janesak

Kate Jenkins

Riley Kerr

Emily McLean

Gracie Merrick

Libby Munderloh

Natalie Newcombe

Riley Nielsen

Emily Paupore

Jada Pride

Ereka Risner

Ciara Rosenzweig

Kaitlynn Rush

Danica Shamion

Robyn Watts

Chesney Wilke

Emily Yoshino