Twenty CMU track athletes achieve career bests at GVSU meet

• Tweet
• 

The CMU men’s and women’s track teams recorded 20 individual career-best marks in the Grand Valley Big Meet, a non-scoring meet that featured more than 1,600 competitors Friday and Saturday.

“It means a lot to us as a coaching staff,” said coach Willie Randolph. “Everyone is mentally and physically coming together at the right time.”

The Mid-American Conference Championships are in two weeks, and Randolph said it is most important to be peaking at this point in the season.

“I definitely believe we’re peaking at the right time,“ he said. “We have to make sure that everyone’s mind is one with their bodies.”

Senior Erika Schroll won the high jump for the fourth consecutive meet with a career-best 5-foot, 11 1/2-inch jump. Schroll also took first in the pentathlon with 3,615 points.

“I guess it’s something that people come to expect now,” said Schroll, who has won in all her competitions this season. “But I’m still shocked.”

Schroll said she was more impressed with the way the entire team performed.

“I think the team did amazing. We keep improving every week,” she said. “We want everyone to start improving now so we can peak for the MAC Championships.”

The CMU women also excelled on the track. Jordan Dunn (third; 7.63 seconds), Dierra Riley (fifth; 7.69 seconds) and Brittnee Shreve (sixth; 7.70 seconds) finished in the top six in the 60-meter dash. Cara Dukes (third; 25.23 seconds) and Stephanie Hurley (ninth; 25.56 seconds) posted top-10 finishes in the 200.

Randolph and Schroll said the size of the field for the Big Meet was different, but something that helped them prepare for the future.

“The meet was huge. Its cool to be able to get some different competition, Schroll said. “Its good to get outside your comfort zone. They might be a little better but they’re going to push you to do better, too.”

Men

On the men’s side, senior Riak Mabil and redshirt freshman Matt Lutzke were top-20 finishers in the 5,000-meter race. Mabil finished ninth with a personal-best 14 minutes, 26 seconds, and Lutzke finished 20th with a time of 14:45.

Senior Marcus Breidinger finished third in the pole vault (16-8 3/4 inches). Sophomores David Ashcraft and Christopher Thomas finished seventh and ninth in the 400. Junior Branden Post finished 21st with a career-best in the 800 (1:54.75).

CMU will host the Jack Skoog Open this weekend at the Jack Skoog indoor track.