Track teams tune up for Indoor Championships with 3 first place finishes
Stepping up Friday at the Grand Valley Tune-Up was junior Lorenzo Wells, who claimed one of three first place finishes for the Central Michigan men's track team with a season-best 22.29-second finish in the 200.
This was the final meet before the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships next weekend, February 24-25, in Ypsilanti.
CMU was slated to participate in one more meet this weekend, the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday, but the team will not be sending any athletes.
CMU brought a limited number of athletes, those preparing for the championship meet next weekend.
Head Coach Mark Guthrie didn’t travel with the team. He was not available for comments.
Results:
With his third win of the indoor season, sophomore Kevin Weiler took first place in the shot put with 16.24 meters. Freshman Logan Targgart finished fourth with 15.75.
The third win of the night went to senior Dylan Banagis with a 20.56-meter weight throw.
Junior Sam Wagner’s 4.82 meters gave him second place in the men’s pole vault.
Also finishing second was junior Ali Taha with a 6.68-meter long jump.
Sophomore Jake Piester finished with 14.52 meters in the triple jump, also second place.
Freshmen duo John Wixson and De’Shaun French finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men’s 60 meter hurdles.
In her final indoor meet before the indoor championships, senior Kylee Dobbelaere finished fourth in the women’s weight throw with 17.82 meters.
Fellow thrower junior Valarie Johnson finished sixth with 16.51 meters. This was only her second meet of the season.
Sophomore Calli Stemple’s 1.68-meter high jump was just one centimeter short of a career-high. That jump was good for second place, tied for the highest placing of the night for the women’s team.
Five CMU athletes competed in the women’s 60 meter hurdles, four of whom made it to the finals. Sophomore Danielle Horton finished with the team’s top time of 8.91 in the finals, finishing third.
Junior April Micheaux finished with a lifetime best 8.95 in the 60 meter hurdle prelims before falling to 9.24 and sixth place in the finals.
With a career-long 11.28 meters, sophomore Kyra Harrison took second place in the women’s triple jump.
Third in the long jump with 5.27 meters, freshman Ja’la Taylor notched her fourth top-five finish of the season.
Freshman Doofanter Nyamor took fourth in the women’s 60 meter dash with a time of 7.95 in the finals, while freshman Erika Thayer finished with 8.41, good for ninth.
Nyamor also took fourth in the 200, finishing in 26.12 seconds.
Also in the 200 was freshman Denasia Dornak, whose time of 26.46 gave her a sixth place finish.
Next Up:
Following next weekend’s championships, any qualifiers will compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships in Texas on March 10-11.
Everyone else’s season will resume with the beginning of the outdoor season on March 25.
