Paupore Claims 5,000 Meter Title to Close MAC Outdoor Championships

Saturday, May 17

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Central Michigan University

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Emily Paupore - 2025 MAC Outdoor, 5,000 Meters

Photo by: Katherine Schultz

Paupore Claims 5,000 Meter Title to Close MAC Outdoor Championships

5/17/2025 7:06:00 PM | Track & Field

The senior has gone three-for-three in MAC 5,000-meter events, winning the previous two indoor titles; CMU finishes seventh overall

By: Harrison LaLone

ATHENS, Ohio — Another day, another title for Central Michigan Track & Field's Emily Paupore.

The 2025 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships finished strong for the Chippewas as Paupore claimed her third 5,000-meter championship of the last four between indoor and outdoor seasons, having redshirted during the outdoor event in 2024.

Despite prolonged dominance in the event, Head Coach Jenny Swieton sensed doubt from the senior earlier this season.

"I absolutely think that, for a second earlier this season, she was questioning her ability in the 5,000," Swieton said. "It was really good to watch her race today and have fun with it. I think it finally made her like it again."

Paupore battled heavy traffic early as windy conditions and multiple competitors pulling double-duty from the 1,500-meter event slowed the start of the race. Midway through, Paupore stepped out and took over.

"Almost everybody in the race pulled the double with the 1,500, and it was super windy too, so the pace at the start felt almost like walking. Finally, Emily got frustrated and took it."

Natalie Newcombe collected a pair of podium finishes Saturday as one of the double-duty runners between the 1,500 and 5,000. She opened her day just shy of a medal in the 1,500, finishing fourth in 4:25.61, then powered through a midrace fall to finish sixth in the 5,000, combining with Paupore for 13 points in the event.

"Today, she took the 1,500 right away—they came out slow, so she just took it. She closed really fast too: her final 800 was close to her 800 PR. It was a very brave way to race that."

On Newcombe's fall in the 5,000: "The adrenaline it takes to get up and get back in it when you fall … it takes so much out of you. So, for her to keep her composure and still perform as well as she did after running the 1,500 was very impressive."

Paupore has qualified for the NCAA East Regional (May 28-31) in both the steeplechase and 5,000 meters in Jacksonville, Fla., hosted by North Florida. Her 9:56.45 steeplechase attempt at Wake Forest (April 17) ranks sixth in the East while her 15:57.14 5,000-meter run at Duke (May 4) slips inside the cut line in 43^rd.

"The focus will be the steeple for sure, but we're not sure if we'll enter her for both. There's also a chance Natalie qualifies for the 5,000, we'll have to see how the weekend finishes with other conferences."

Kaitlynn Rush collected a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter dash in 11.98 seconds after she posted the fifth-best qualifying time on Friday and led the 4x100 relay squad to seventh to open Saturday's action.

Having battled injury throughout her career since posting a podium finish as a freshman in the MAC indoor championships, the solid weekend closed the book on Rush's career on a high note.

"In your fifth year, to come full circle and get back onto the podium is awesome. It made all the bumps in the road worth it."

Rush's trial attempt in the 100-meter vaulted her to third in the all-time program listing (11.73 seconds); the 4x100 team took over seven tenths of a second from its previous season mark in 46.29 seconds. The relay team featured Dior Newson, Mireya Benjamin and Sky Austin alongside Rush.

"The 4x1 always gets the day going. On paper, we shouldn't have scored in that so for us to the podium said, 'we're here to play today.'"

Gracie Merrick completed her weekend with a personal-best 45.72-meter fling of the discus, finishing sixth and solidifying her place in 10^th on the program's top ten ranking. Merrick nearly missed the finals in the event as she sat ninth after the qualifying flights, then fouled her first two finals attempts before marking the new personal record.

Merrick's performance mirrored yesterday's shot put performance from Ereka Risner, as Risner landed a personal-best of more than 2.5 feet to finish seventh.

"There's always one person that makes a podium in an event and everyone wonders, 'how did that happen?' The throwers were those people for us this weekend. They weren't projected to score, they came out of the first flight, and they got there anyway."

The Chippewas finished seventh in the meet overall, just as they did at the end of each day of the event.

"I'm happy with the improvement we've made. We had a couple fifth-year seniors that did a lot for us, so it was cool to have them go out the way they did, but we had a lot of sophomores score too and that bodes well for the future."

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