Track and field brakes school record, brings home multiple top-five finishes
Wisconsin freshman Erick Huertas hands off the baton to a teammate in their relay during the track scrimmage against Oakland on Friday, Jan. 16.
Mark Guthrie told the Central Michigan University track and field teams earlier this week they have a great opportunity this weekend and they have to take advantage of it.
They heard his message loud and clear.
The Chippewas took home several top five finishes Friday and Saturday at the Spire Collegiate Invitational in Geneva, Ohio and also broke an indoor school record.
Guthrie, the director of CMU track and field, was pleased with his team’s performance in its second straight week of top Division I competition.
“We had a lot of good things happen,” Guthrie said. “We’re still a really young team trying to find our way a little bit. I was proud of how they responded to the competition level that they were in.
“You are presented with these opportunities and you have to take advantage of them. Some are better than others at doing that. The more you can stand the fight versus fight, the better you are going to be as a team.”
CMU started strong on Friday with solid performances in their field events. Men’s co-captain Cole Walderzak had a fifth-place finish in the weight throw with 19.33 meters. The Chippewas grabbed two top-five finishes in the men’s and women’s pole vault. Rebekah Petty and McKenzie Wieber each tied for third place for the women at 3.67 meters, while Zack Shepard and Tony Armstrong tied for second for the men at 4.73 meters.
The CMU women also competed in their first pentathlon Friday, made up of 60-meter hurdles, high jump, long jump, shot put and 800-meter run. Freshmen April Micheaux, Kyla Walton and Wendy Szuminiski finished in sixth, eighth and 10th place, respectively.
“I think they learned a lot,” Guthrie said. “First of all, you never know. When you do your first pentathlon, there are no expectations other than just experience it. They are all freshmen, so there’s a lot of great upside. You just have to do that first one at some point.”
Four Chippewas qualified automatically for the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships in the 5000-meter run. Kelly Schubert finished in 11th place with a time of 16:49.96, while teammate Kirsten Olling notched a 14th place finish with a 17:01.21 mark. The CMU men had an 11th-place finish from Silas DeKalita at 14:38.35 and Nate Ghena at 14:40.93 finished in 14th place.
CMU had a trio of athletes turn in fifth-place finishes on Saturday, including Devene Brown in the shot put (14.64-meters), Abbey Kelto broke the indoor school record in the 3000-meters (9:27.44) and Tina Davis returned from her rest week in the 60-meter dash (7.59).
Malik Vasquez had a sixth-place finish in the men’s 400-meters at 47.84. Teammates Erick Huertas (48.52) and Ziemowit Dutkiewicz (48.64) finished in 15th and 17th place, respectively.
The women’s 4x400 relay team of Ravyn Baxter, Emma Fishnick, Bridget Doughty, and Kelsey Ross finished in seventh place with a time of 3:43.22. Guthrie kept all four out of the solo 400-meters.
“Today was all about trying to run a good relay,” Guthrie said.
Guthrie was excited about his team’s ability to perform at a high level for a second straight week after a meet at Notre Dame which saw multiple top teams from across the country.
“It’s just the consistency and performance,” Guthrie said. “We (ask) 'Every time out can we be at this point better than last (week)?'”
Guthrie hopes his team’s consistency can carry over for the next two weeks, as the MAC Indoor Championships at Jack Skoog Indoor Track loom.
“We learned who competed well today,” he said. “That is important. I think we repositioned ourselves and got some things accomplished which will help us as coaches make some of those decisions. We have a solid lineup right now.
“We have to keep working to get better. That’s all you can ask of them. This is the team we have, and we like them, and it’s just about keep getting better every time out.”
