Track teams open outdoor season at Raleigh Relays

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The CMU women’s track and field team looks to redeem itself after its second-place Mid-American Conference finish to end the indoor season.

CMU competes today and Saturday in Raleigh, N.C., to begin the outdoor season at the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University. Teams competing against the Chippewas include Georgetown, Duke, North Carolina and Ohio State.

Senior Erika Schroll said the team will use its runner-up finish as motivation going forward.
“We got a fire lit inside of us,” she said. “This beast is about to escape from the team.”

Individually for Schroll, the indoor season completed when she placed 12th at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 13.

As a team, the season ended two weeks prior, as it finished seven points behind MAC champion Kent State.

The Chippewas have been fortunate enough to have cooperating weather conditions to practice in preparation of the Raleigh Relays.

“The weather has been definitely on our side … The team has been training really hard, both mentally and physically,” said coach Willie Randolph.

Randolph said the team has already targeted the Outdoor MAC Championships on May 12-15 despite the season just beginning.

ROAD TRIP

Randolph said he broke down the trip and is making sure it is not a trip that taxes the athletes’ legs.

“We will be training at Ohio University for one stop,” he said. “We will do some jogging and some other drills.”

And Schroll’s performance indoors has the team buzzing, Randolph said.

“You think big, and you may be big, but to see you have an example in front of you that says, ‘I’m doing big things as well; come on guys, let’s do the same thing.’ That’s what having a competitive team is all about,” he said.

MEN’S

The men also compete in the Raleigh Relays but, like the women, Randolph said the focus is on the MAC Championships in May.

With a young team, Randolph said the main goal for the weekend is to gain experience.

“We want to move in the right direction on the men’s side to try and balance our attack more, so not only for what we have right now, but also for the future,” he said.

The team is made up of 37 freshmen and sophomores, with 14 juniors and seniors. But Randolph wants the team to do more than compete.

“We want to have some more national qualifiers,” he said.

A new regional format allows more universities to compete with CMU.

“For our kids to be able to get in there and knock heads with some of the best in the country, it is basically the first round of nationals,” Randolph said.