Track and field finds success at Meyo Invitational
Central Michigan University’ track and field teams proved they can compete against quality Division I competition this weekend at Notre Dame University.
The Chippewa notched personal records and broke a school record Friday and Saturday at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
“We had a lot of people step up,” said CMU Director of Track and Field Mark Guthrie. “It’s gotten to the point where after next week you’re not ready you have to scratch your head a little bit. I believe the training has come together at this point. We’ve done enough turnover things on the track in various events. The speed is going up and the results are starting to reflect that.”
Among top CMU events was the fifth-place finish in the women’s distance medley relay, during which the Chippewas broke the indoor school record with a time 11:43.12. The men edged out Notre Dame and Texas for first place with a time of 9:56.08.
“When you break a record, obviously that’s a job well done,” Guthrie said.
CMU had a strong group of runners competing in the 400-meters. Ravyn Baxter and Emily Fishnick recorded personal records of 55.87 and 57.05, respectively, while Bridget Doughty ran a time of 55.96.
On the men’s side, Malik Vasquez continued his solid season running a 48.01. Ziemowit Dutkiewicz ran a 48.52 for 27th place, with teammate Erick Huertas was close behind in 32nd place with a time of 48.74.
In distance events, Kelsey Ross had a season-best 2:14.48 in the 800-meters. Abbey Kelto placed 12th in the 3000-meters with a 9:39.15 for a personal record, with teammates Kelly Schubert (23rd place) and Kirsten Olling (26th place) close behind. Esther Bell ran a 4:57.45 for a 29th place finish in the mile.
For the CMU men, Ben Wynsma ran a 4:13.74 mark in the mile for 34th place, while Nate Ghena came in 26th place in the 3000-meters at 8:33.18.
The Chippewas did not take throwers to South Bend, but did place in some field events. Tony Armstrong had a personal record in the pole vault with 4.80 meters to place third. Fellow pole vaulters Zack Shepard and Ryan Vincent finished in 11th and 14th place, respectively.
In the high jump, Matt Mueller cleared 2 meters to finish in 10th place. Shaya Wilkerson had a near personal record of 1.67 meters for the women.
“It was a fun meet to be a part of because we had a lot of good things happen,” Guthrie said. “We had success in all the areas.”
