Guikema Sets Program 800 Record, Yoshino Earns Pole Vault Silver in MAC Championships Opening Day

Friday, February 27

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

10:00 A.M. ET

Central Michigan University

Mid-American Conference Championships

Guikema Sets Program 800 Record, Yoshino Earns Pole Vault Silver in MAC Championships Opening Day

2/27/2026 7:09:00 PM | Track & Field

Day 1 Results Day 2 Info

Chippewas log nine personal bests, add five top-10 results at Mid-American Conference Championships

By: Jasper Gallagher

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Central Michigan Track & Field began competition Friday in day one of the Mid-American Conference Championships, hosted by the Chippewas. Three CMU athletes qualified for Saturday finals.

In the pole vault, all three Chippewas found a spot on the podium, with Emily Yoshio leading the way for silver. Yoshino met a career best, 3.85m on her first attempt. Riley Nielsen took fourth overall, clearing 3.75m on her first attempt. Jane Paddock found her way into the Chippewas' top-10 list with a career best 3.75m on her third attempt, for eighth place overall.

"We had a great day today. The pole vaulters really stepped up," Central Michigan Director of Track & Field Jenny Swieton said, "Most of the team competing today placed higher than they came in ranked, and Maya's (Guikema) school record was the icing on the cake. Linnearia qualified for both the 60m hurdles finals and the long jump finals, that's awesome."

"Being here in Mount Pleasant is great, having the fans were amazing and it helped us out a lot."

Maya Guikema set a new program record in the 800m, finishing second in the prelims with a 2:09.97 finish. Her previous best time of 2:10.86, was the third best in program history. She will compete in the 800m finals Saturday, Feb. 28. Jessie Gibbins took 12^th in the event with a 2:13.65 finish, a career best. Lois Creasey rounded out the Chippewas pack in 15^th at 2:14.38.

Linnearia Richards qualified for the 60m-H finals with third place finish in the prelims, and set a new personal best of 8.57 seconds, improving her top 10 time by four-hundredths of a second. Jayda Watson set a new career best of 8.84 seconds in the event for 15^th overall.

Richards recorded a 5.75m career best in the long jump to tie her career best, good to make the podium in eighth place.

In the 400m, Danica Shamion took eighth place with a 57.24 second finish, to qualify for the finals. Libby Munderloh took 13^th in the event with a finishing time of 57.48 seconds, and Robyn Watts rounded out the pack at 59.18 seconds to finish 28^th.

Sophia Garland narrowly missed the finals in the 200m, finishing in 24.87 seconds for ninth place. Ella Sweatt took 21^st at 25.63 seconds, and Andrea Merin logged a 25.69 performance for 23^rd.

Freshman Kyah Hoffman led the distance runners in the 5k, improving her personal best to 16:55.94 for the ninth best time in program history, and ninth in meet. Kate Jenkins came in 13^th at 17:17.03 and Emma Netzel took 21^st at 17:49.99, both career bests.

Victoria Merrick took 10^th place in the weight throw, topping out at 17.23m.

The Chippewas day concluded with the distance medley relay where the team of Lois Creasey, Libby Munderloh, Jessie Gibbins, and Eva Thompson finished in 11:42.18, the fourth best time in program history, and finished fourth overall.

As a team Central Michigan ended it's day in seventh place with 19.5 points. Kent State takes the lead going into Saturday with 40 points, Akron trails with 35.

The championships will conclude Saturday, with field events starting at 10:00 a.m. ten Chippewas will compete, the complete list is as follows:

60m-H
Linnearia Richards
400
Danica Shamion
800
Maya Guikema
3k
Kyah Hoffman, Kate Jenkins, Eva Thompson, Grace VanderKooi
Shot Put
Gracie Merrick, Emily McLean, Ereka Risner

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

— CMU —