Two reached those goals.

At the Penn State National Saturday, senior multi-event athlete Josh Kettlewell won the seven-event heptathlon with a career-high score of 5,673, which broke a CMU 13-year record.

“He set the multi record, that’s for sure,”  assistant coach Matt Kaczor said. “With all the work he’s put in, it’s nice to see the rewards.”

The score was 300 points higher than both the runner-ups Saturday, and the previous CMU record. The record was set in 1998 by Nathan Parker.

Kettlewell won the 60 meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 8.33. He also finished fourth in the 1000 meter run with a time of 2:42. He marked 16-10.75 in the pole vault.

At Indiana, sophomore distance runner Tecumseh Adams also set a school record Saturday.

He finished second place in the 5k event with a time of 13:53.08 in Bloomington, Ind. He said Thursday he was aiming for a sub-fourteen minute race to give him a good chance of qualifying for the NCAA Championship in March.

It was the first 5k under 14 minutes in CMU history.

The 5k automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championship is 13:44. The top-17 runners in the nation are selected. Adams said he will not know for a while his time qualifies.

“My time might make it in,” he said. “I have a pretty good chance. Last year, my time was the final spot (in the championship).”

Coach Kaczor, who traveled with Adams to Indiana, said the drive there was not a problem.

“We try to keep it as simple as possible,” he said. “When we got there, you could see his nerves a little bit about a half-hour before the race, but I just reminded him he’s been training for it.”

Adams said during the race, there was a “rabbit,” a runner who leads and sets the pace. It helped him settle into a pace. He averaged 4:27 per mile.

He said his techniques to stay focused in the race include studying other runners’ shoes and jerseys.

“It really helped me to have the rabbit pull me along,” Adams said. “The last three minutes I was struggling, but I focused on the techniques I talked about before to stay in it.”

Kaczor said the team can do nothing but work harder than it has before.

“You just got to keep moving forward,” he said. “Like I told Tec, ‘You won and you have a day to celebrate, then it’s back to work.’ When you run well like that, people know you the next time you run, you have to keep working.”

“Get there, get by them,” the director of track and field, Randolph, yelled along with his assistant coach, Kaczor.

That was Friday, when the Central Michigan men’s and women’s track and field teams both finished in first place over Detroit Mercy, Oakland University, Macomb Community College and Aquinas College.

Randolph and Kaczor know it’s another season to aim for a Mid-American Conference championship. They know that the seniors have one final chance at a title.

For Holly Anderson, it’s her last chance.

Anderson, a senior long-distance runner, said she wants a MAC championship before she leaves CMU in May.

Also a cross-country runner, Anderson and the cross-country team came in second place at the MAC championships in the fall for the second-straight year.

The women’s track and field team finished in fourth during the MAC championships in May 2010. The last MAC title in either indoor or outdoor was 2004.

The last chance for Anderson, the cross-country runners and the rest of the track and field team has arrived. Anderson is one of four seniors from the cross-country team running track and field.

“I’m really excited,” Anderson said. “It was a really great winter of training.”

She finished first in the one-mile run Friday with at time of 5:04.86. Senior runner Veronica Garcia finished in third place with a time of 5:17.88.

Anderson said running long-distance track and field is a lot different from cross-country.

“There’s not the time (in track and field) like you have in a cross-country race,” she said.

She said the strategy differs between cross-country and distance track because of the shorter amount of time. A mile run in track and field, she said, feels more like a sprint.

Kaczor said the team is progressing, but still saw things he said were “far from perfect.” He also expected to see some rust in the first meet of the season.

“They ran really well, but it’s the beginning of January, so you have to take it with a grain of salt,” Kaczor said.

Despite the imperfections he and Randolph observed, there’s an overriding reason they cheer on the runners with so much energy.

“These kids pour their heart and soul into the track,” Kaczor said. “How can you not support them when they put so much work into what they do?”

Sophomore setter Kelly Maxwell celebrates with team mates after winning 3-2 over NIU at the MAC Championships Sunday afternoon in Geneva, Ohio. (Adam Niemi/Staff Photographer)

GENEVA, Ohio – Cinderella most always spoils the ball.

Northern Illinois was the favorite, with its No. 1-seed in the Mid-American Conference tournament. Simply, they were supposed to be the life of the party.

Then No. 6-seeded Central Michigan arrived. CMU beat NIU in five sets to win its first-ever MAC championship here on Sunday.

“’This is ours,’ that’s all I heard,” said CMU head coach Erik Olson about the team’s talk on the bench. “They were on a mission.”

In five loud and fast-paced sets, Northern Illinois (27-6, 15-3 MAC) was sent home early from the party.

The Chippewas heads to its next ball — but none like it has ever been invited to before — their first-ever NCAA tournament on Dec. 2 and 3. The location is still to be determined.

The momentum CMU rode to its first championship had been built over the last two days with 3-0 wins against both No. 2 Ohio on Saturday and No. 3 Western Michigan on Friday.

“This is what aggressiveness will bring to you,” Olson said. “It was learned against Ohio, at Ohio.”

All-Tournament sophomore setter Kelly Maxwell said the team was not shaken before the decisive fifth set against NIU.

“Our whole team was just on fire,” Maxwell said. “We love game fives.”

One of the first things Olson did after handshakes and brief celebrations was study the stat sheets from all five sets. The work is not over, with games against Long Beach State and UC-Irvine on Nov. 25 and 26.

“’We have a big moment,’” Olson said to the team before the game. “I said, ‘Let’s go out there and take it to them. And they did.”

Melissa McIntyre, mother of freshman outside hitter Kaitlyn, said she left her home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin this weekend to make the championship.

“I drove at five o’clock Saturday to get here,” she said while watching the team celebrate. “It’s an eight-and-a-half hour drive, but I had to get here.”

The 42nd Annual Gentle Friday is expected to attract a couple of thousand students on Friday. The event starts at noon and is located at Warriner Mall, and is open to the public.

Allegan senior and Program Board cultural events chair Carrie Lewis said the event first started in 1967.

“It started off as a peace protest during Vietnam and transformed into an event for students to relax before exam week,” she said. “We have a couple thousand people come each year.”

The event will feature a variety of different registered student organizations.

“It’s just a big stress-reliever before finals,” Lewis said. “It’s one last day students can see their friends before summer starts.”

Lewis said the top-10 male and female homecoming ambassadors will be announced as well.

Milan senior and Program Board vice president Kelsey Moran said the band “Goodnight LA” will perform from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Moran, the event organizer, said there will be more activities besides the ones Program Board are putting on.

“We also have about 30 RSO’s and I imagine some of them (are) putting on activities too,” the Saline senior said. “We’re hoping deans and presidents show up.”

Moran jokingly agreed that the event could be University President Michael Rao’s “going away party.”

“Should I get him a cake?” she said with a laugh.

Moran said the event is like MAINstage, except at the opposite end of the school year.

“I wasn’t aware of it my freshmen year,” she said. “For me it’s just a fun time for me to be with people I like being with.”

Program Board also will show the film “Fan Boys” on the jumbotron at Kelly/Shorts Stadium at dusk. Moran said it is the first time that any movie has been shown as part of Gentle Friday.

Lewis said though they expect thousands at the event she will be looking for one regular in particular.

“There’s a lady that was at the first Gentle Friday and has been at each one since,” she said. “So I’m sure she will be there this year as well.”

studentlife@cm-life.com

The cargo that freighters haul to the port of Bay Aggregates, Inc. in Bay City, is the lifeblood of industry throughout mid-Michigan. Mount Pleasant-area companies – mostly in construction industries – are some of the jobs that directly benefit from Great Lakes shipping.

“Our facility in Bay City is not only for concrete,” said Fisher Transportation President Doug Moore. “But it is a port for all types of different applications.”

According to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report, if all cargo carried by Great Lakes freighters were instead carried by the next cheapest mode of transportation, it would cost $3.6 billion more. The report said the 240,000 jobs are in the steel, mining and construction industries, including 44,000 jobs that are related to maritime transport.

“Our company moves over 20 million tons of freight a year,” said Mark Barker, president of Interlake Steamship Company. “That’s a big economic impact, for sure.”

Freighters carry materials such as iron ore, coal, limestone, cement mix, salt, sand and grain.

The report outlined a five-year Great Lakes navigation system plan to restore the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, along with construction of a new lock, removal of dredging backlog around the Great Lakes, expansion and construction of dredged material disposal facilities, and repair of breakwaters and structures.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers’ rationale for building a new lock to fit all ships is the importance of the Poe Lock. It fits every ship on the Great Lakes and if it were to malfunction, an unscheduled 30-day shutdown for repairs could lead to industries losing a total of $160 million of cargo.

More than 80 million tons of commercial commodities pass through the Soo Locks each year. The report said one 1,000-foot freighter carries as much cargo as seven 100-car trains, or 3,000 semi-trucks.

Barker said the safety record of freighter shipping is another example of Great Lakes shipping.

“Our largest ship, for example, the Paul Tregurtha, has gone 2,361 days without a lost-time injury,” he said. “I would say it’s safe to transport on the water.”

Barker said the Paul Tregurtha is 1,013 feet long and 105 feet wide. It’s the largest ship on the Great Lakes, with only a 21-man crew.

‘Green’ shipping

Even with a massive cargo capacity, the environmental impact of freighter shipping is very little, said Lake Carriers’ Association Corp. communications vice president, Glen Nekvasil.

“Those ships are the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation out there,” Nekvasil said. “And you never have to stop at something like a railroad crossing and wait for a ship to pass by.”

A Great Lakes freighter with a 1,000 ton load produces 90 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than a dump truck with the same load and 70 percent less than a train.

“To move a ton of cargo per gallon of fuel, our ships will go more than 600 miles,” Nekvasil said. “A train with one ton of cargo, will go 200 miles. A dumptruck, about 60.”

metro@cm-life.com

But more than five years later, not much has been done to support the Great Lakes and Ken DeBaussaert, director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, said the Bush Administration was never supportive of funding for Great Lakes restoration.

“The difficulty of that term ‘restore’ is, ‘What are you restoring it to?’” he said. “Clearly we won’t be able to restore the Great Lakes to pre-European conditions. We want to restore the Great Lakes to an environment that is sustainable.”

In 2005, a recommendation strategy report released by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration outlined recommendations and solutions to restore the Great Lakes that would cost $23 billion. It is the same plan that President Barack Obama is currently supporting.

DeBaussaert said the same GLRC strategy could provide an economic return between $80-$100 billion, a definite boost to a slumping economy, especially in Michigan.

DeBaussaert said much of the funding had come from national programs. Paradoxically, it took the country’s recession, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed last month, to create the $475 million budget for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The initiative would target problems such as invasive species, runoff pollution, degraded wildlife habitat and contaminated bottomlands.

“In many respects,” he said, “the funding is not only for the cleanup, but for preventative measures to keep the lakes in good condition.”

Roger Gauthier, program director of the Great Lakes Commission, said the funding is welcomed news but long overdue.

“It’s a portion of the funding we’ve been pursuing for the last five to six years – aggressively pursuing in Congress,” he said.

DeBaussaert said the $475 million budget supported by the Obama administration and enacted by Congress will not only benefit the Great Lakes, but create jobs and a stable economic return. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said last month that the initiative could create up to 265,000 jobs.

Gauthier said $475 million is a lot, yet is still far from the $23 billion the GLRC strategy calls for.

Zebra mussels

The biggest impact to the health of the Great Lakes’ condition is the invasion of non-native species, notably the zebra mussel, DeBaussaert said.

In the 1980s, zebra mussels were identified in the eastern parts of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Recently, zebra mussels have even been identified across the country.

“It could be from people pulling their boats out of one lake and going somewhere else and putting their boat in another lake,” DeBaussaert said of the possible country-wide spread of mussels.

Another big problem is contaminated ballast water from ships, DeBaussaert said. When ships load cargo, it takes water into ballast tanks to maintain the ship’s stability. When ships unload its cargo elsewhere, it releases the ballast water. Mussels and whatever else was in the water released from ballast tanks then contaminates the new waters.

The zebra mussel is a clam-like shell that is native of the Black and Caspian seas. They can grow from the size of a fingernail to two inches across. They spread virally because female mussels can produce between 30,000 and 1 million eggs per year.

Even invasive vegetation agitates both humans and animals. Phragmites is a common weed that has grown rampant in the Saginaw Bay area and spreading rapidly along lakeshores all over the Great Lakes. It can grow up to 15 feet tall and virtually crowds out species from habitats along the lake.

Gauthier said the funding comes at a crucial time.

“We were rapidly reaching a point where native species were at risk of being endangered,” he said.

metro@cm-life.com

His disc flew for what seemed like minutes, coasting high above the knoll against the wind before settling just two feet ahead of the previous long-drive mark.

It was the last throw of the longest drive competition during the charity disc golf event Saturday. Zike won, and so did the charity he supported.

Saturday was one of the few clear, sunny days this spring and it gave students an opportunity to enjoy a round of 18-hole disc golf to benefit the Cornerstone Youth Development Fund, a charity for underprivileged children in Africa.

Eight teams completed a round in the cool breeze. The event raised about $150.

“We obviously would’ve loved more teams,” said organizer Tara Clark a Rockford junior. “If it would’ve been a little less windy that would’ve been awesome. But we’ll take it compared to rain or 20 degrees.”

Students, as part of RPL 430: Planning Recreational Programs and Events, hosted the event and teams registered for the round of golf, a longest drive competition and a closest-to-the-pin competition.

“We chose disc golf. We knew there were a lot of people passionate about it at CMU,” said event organizer and Mount Pleasant senior Dylan Tobin. “We were just hoping to get a good student turnout.”

The Cornerstone Youth Development Fund was first put together five years ago by Central Michigan University alumna Kelly Donahue, Tobin said.

Clark said a reason there were less teams than she expected was due to charity donations.

“I just think that it’s hard to get people to get people to pay for something that they can do for free,” she said.

Jason Hedrick and John Noekorski finished first out of the eight teams in round play with an 8-under-par 46. Zike won the longest drive competition and alumnus Conrad Budzynski won the closest-to-the-pin competition. All winners received cash prizes.

Raffle tickets were sold for prizes of headbands, coupons and two Detroit Pistons authentic jerseys.

metro@cm-life.com

The second Charity Mascot Basketball Game will feature the Oreo cookie mascot, along with the Buffalo Wild Wings’ Buffalo and other notable mascots. The free event will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rose Arena. However, donations will be accepted at the door for the American Lung Association.

Josh Merryman, the event’s organizer and a temporary staff member in intercollegiate athletics, said a mascot from the NBA and NFL have confirmed plans to participate in the event, but did not want to elaborate on the mascots’ identities, out of worry that the interest in the mascots would decrease if people knew which are planned to participate.

Merryman said 16 to 20 mascots total are expected for the event.

“They’re coming from a far distance,” said the 2005 Central Michigan University alumnus. “But they did confirm their appearance with me.”

The game will consist of four seven-minute quarters, Merryman said. A player from either the CMU men’s or women’s basketball teams will coach each team and a men’s or women’s player will serve as a referee.

“We’ll be selling raffle tickets for autographed sports memorabilia,” Merryman said.

Some of the items include a football signed by 30 members of the Cincinnati Bengals, signed NHL items and an autographed Los Angeles Clippers basketball. Merryman said approximately 18 items total will be in the raffle.

“Last year was kind of a bad year because of the weekend it was on,” he said. “It was the weekend before finals, Reggaefest was happening – the NFL draft (was happening). We’re looking to get a lot more people this year.”

Merryman said about $1,300 was donated last year and hopes more will be donated this year.

“As long as it’s over the $1,300 from last year, I’d be happy,” he said. “Watching the game and making a donation are one thing, but the awareness you get from it is so much more.”

sports@cm-life.com

The HEV department has added four designators to replace HEV to better direct students to classes.

The new designators will be Apparel Merchandise & Design (AMD), Interior Design (IND), Human Development and Family studies (HDF), which includes child development, and Foods and Nutrition (FNS).

Phame Camarena, chair of the HEV department, said the changes came about because of the rapid increase in the program’s enrollment.

Camarena said there are 1,350 majors and 650 minors in the HEV department.

“It started from a program review,” he said. “It became clear that our programs grew so large in size that sharing the same designators didn’t make sense anymore.”

All classes in the HEV designator was like having all science classes under a ‘SCI’ designator, Camarena said.

“Students will not have to make any changes with the Registrar,” Camarena said. “The Registrar is aware of it.”

The process for changing the designators started more than a year ago.

“We did send e-mails, discussing the changes to students already part of the program,” Camarena said.

Kathryn Koch, associate dean of the College of Education and Human Services, said the designator change will definitely help students.

“Careers through our program are in high demand,” Koch said. “That’s also appealing to our program.”

When it comes to clearing the confusion during class registration, Koch said the departments will have to do a good job of advising. She views the first year as being the hardest to help transition students to the change.

“(The HEV program) is among the biggest in the college,” she said. “Because it has such a broad appeal, we can reach more students than other programs.”

Camarena said another appeal to students is the Applied Professional Program structure of courses.

university@cm-life.com

The senior from Gaines went to the first incarnation of the epic music festival near Muskegon and stood 10 feet from her favorite artist, Dave Matthews.

At the end of his band’s performance, she caught one of the drumsticks that was thrown into the crowd.

“I went with my brother and some of his friends, along with some of my girlfriends,” she said. “We drove there and camped out.”

This year’s festival, taking place July 2 through 5, includes artists such as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson & Family and Broken Social Scene.

Also scheduled to perform are the Black Crowes, Damian Marley and Nas, Ralph Stanley and Ani DeFranco. Sixty-six acts are listed on the festival’s Web site.

The Ragbirds, playing at the festival this year, is a Michigan band that has played in Mount Pleasant and at Reggaefest in Oil City.

Last year’s festival attracted 30,000 to 40,000 fans to the Double JJ Ranch and Resort in Oceana County.

The Double JJ filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection within two weeks of the end of last year’s festival because of millions of dollars in debt unrelated to the event.

Two festival-goers died during last year’s event from unrelated drug overdoses.

Discounted early-bird tickets for this year’s festival went on sale Saturday and sold out in less than 24 hours.

General tickets go on sale noon Friday at the event’s Web site, starting at $249.50 for a four-day pass and on-site camping.

West Bloomfield native and Mid-Michigan Community College senior Nicole Seinberg said the general experience of the event is impressive.

“I was really impressed with the way it was set up,” Seinberg said. “The only thing I had a problem with was the campground, the dry, hard grass.”

Seinberg said there was a circus tent and shopping tents like a fairground.

She said the ‘Sherwood Forest,’ a patch of woods on the grounds, was dotted with artwork and hammocks were strung up to give people a relaxing, shady respite from the heat of the sun.

Like Ciaravino, Seinberg’s experience was highlighted by Dave Matthews’ near four-hour performance.

“It had the best weather and his band was the only one playing,” she said. “Everyone was there.”

Both Seinberg and Ciaravino said there are different age groups there, ranging from children to older generations.

Ciaravino said the closest she got to getting hurt was dehydration – she emphasized the need to stay hydrated during the busy weekend.

“Drink a lot of water,” Ciaravino said. “You’re allowed to bring a good amount into the festival and you can take a water bottle with you.”

Artists that will
be performing
at Rothbury 2009,
scheduled for
July 2-5

- The Dead
- Bob Dylan and His Band
- The String Cheese
Incident
- Willie Nelson & Family
- The Black Crowes
- Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley & NAS
- STS9
- G. Love & Special Sauce
- Gov’t Mule
- Broken Social Scene
- Yonder Mountain String Band
- The Disco Biscuits
- Les Claypool
- Cold War Kids
- John Butler
- Chromeo
- Ani DiFranco
- MSTRKRFT
- Matisyahu
- Girl Talk
- Guster
- Femi Kuti & The Positive Force
- Martin Sexton
- Flogging Molly
- Railroad Earth
- The Hold Steady
- Toots & The Maytals
- Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
- Brett Dennen
- Zappa Plays Zappa
- Grace Potter And The Nocturnals
- Shpongle DJ Set
- Son Volt
- Jackie Greene
- Lotus
- Soulive
- Man Man
- Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band with Tony Rice
- King Sunny Ade & His African Beats
- Kid Cudi
- STS9 (Live PA Set)
- The Glitch Mob
- Davy Knowles And Back Door Slam
- EOTO
- Pretty Lights
- Moseley, Law, Sipe & Droll
- Rebelution
- Quannum All Stars Ft. Lyrics Born,
- The Mighty Underdogs
- Gift Of Gab & Lifesavas
- Toubab Krewe
- Sam Roberts Band
- Hill Country Revue
- Kyle Hollingsworth Band
- Lipp Service (Eliot Lipp + Members Of Pnuma)
- 2020 Soundsystem
- Break Science Ft. Adam Deitch
- The Hard Lessons
- Underground Orchestra
- Future Rock
- The Macpodz
- Steppin’ In It
- Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad
- Chris Pierce
- Rachel Goodrich
- The Ragbirds
- Four Finger Five

Need tickets?
There are several ticket
packages available
- $249.50 for a four-day pass
- Weekend and children’s weekend tickets are $23
- Tickets through Ticketmaster
- Certain fees and surcharges apply
- On sale noon Friday, March 20

Source:
www.rothburyfestival.com

metro@cm-life.com