Women's track finds positives despite no first place finishes at Harvey-Simmons Invite
Despite a lack of first place finishes the women's track and field team still found positives from this weekend's Harvey-Simmons Invitational at the University of Michigan.
The Chippewas still received a number of quality performances from their athletes.“Right now we’re not stressed about placement until we get into the conference season,” said Director of track and field Willie Randolph.
Sophomore Diamond Hamilton finished third in the 200m dash with a time of 25.44, while also coming in fourth in the 60m dash with a time of 7.74. Her teammate and fellow sophomore Bridget Doughty placed second in the 400m dash with a time of 58.51.
Coming off of much a steeper challenge than in past meets, the team, according to Randolph, should have nothing to hang their heads over after the Harvey-Simmons Invitational as it prepares to go into this week’s practices.
“The level of competition wasn’t too much, but it wasn’t too little," Randolph said. "Our bodies are still catching up to us and we’re still shaking off some rust left over from winter break."
Randolph also took into consideration the fact that he kept some athletes back in Mount Pleasant in order to get them a few more practices and some rest. Going to an invitational at anything less than full strength is a difficult task for any coach to tackle.
“(Our players) got some good training in on Saturday,” Randolph said. “With more practice they’ll have time to grow progressively both mentally and physically.”
Another notable performance came from freshman Markayla Goodson who earned a personal best mark of 17-06.25 in the long jump on her way to a fourth place finish. Her senior teammate Maddie Ribant put up a time of 5:00.54 while, fresh off a long battle with injuries, senior Charnele Lyons finished her run with a time of 5:04.76, getting closer to her normal pace.
CMU will be preparing for its upcoming challenge on Saturday when it'll send athletes to both the GVSU Quad and Penn State relays respectfully.
