CMU track and field ready for MAC championships

• Tweet
• 

The Central Michigan track and field teams head to DeKalb, Ill., this week to compete in the 2011 Mid-American Conference Outdoor championships.

The men are looking for their first outdoor title since 2005, while the women haven’t won the season’s biggest meet since 2004.

“We’ve been working all year long for championship week,” said track and field director Willie Randolph. “We’ve been training for championships in practice every single day.”

The men appear to be much improved from their fifth-place finish at the MAC indoor championships. They have won both of their scoring meets this season at Toledo and defending Big East champion Louisville.

The women have also improved since their day two surge from the indoor championships. With the extra events, the women look to place well in those events.

“We are stronger mentally, physically,” Randolph said. “We are stronger because of the extra events and we have increased in a lot of areas.”

Throwing events have been a strong point for the men, having at least one top five athlete in each event.

Sophomore Alex Rose leads a strong group of discus throwers as he is not only atop of the MAC standings, but in the top five in the nation.

CMU record holder in the hammer toss Ryan McCullough looks to score big points with the hammer and he also is in the top five in the MAC in the discus and looks to join Rose with large point totals.

Freshman Kyle Smith is the team leader and a top four MAC participant in the javelin. He is coming off a first place throw last week at Michigan.

In the shot put, CMU has three athletes in the top six of the MAC. Seniors John Calvert and George Flanner are No. 3 and No. 6, while Rose is No. 4.

“I can’t speak enough about how coach Ridgway developed them into a whole other level,” Randolph said.

One of the bigger stories coming into the outdoor season for the women was how the distance runners would fair without senior Raeanne Lohner. The women have responded well, really stepping up and could come away with big points in the distance events.

Seniors Danielle Dakroub and Kylee Kubacki are both top five of the 5,000-meter, while freshman Krista Parks continues to improve her times.

Sophomore Maddie Ribant shattered the school’s steeplechase record at the prestigious Penn Relays two weeks ago, finishing second only because of a fall on the last lap. without the fall, she would be a top three participant in the MAC standings.

“So far in the MAC standings, we have few CMU girls in the top eight,” Dakroub said. “Pending on how we race, we will have girls in scoring range.”

The Chippewas have been working toward this weekend since the indoor season came to an end. With noticeable improvements for both the men and women, they are real threats to take down Eastern Michigan and the rest of the MAC for the top spot.