Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: Sports

Sophomore sprinter Nana Adomako runs in the Chippewa Open on Jan. 11. Adomako finished third in the 60m dash at the Collegiate Open Indoor Classic at Saginaw Valley State with a time of 7.11 seconds. [Click to enlarge]

The pole vaulting and the mile relay teams led a split men's track and field team during the weekend.

CMU split its team, sending some of the younger athletes to the Collegiate Open Indoor Classic at Saginaw Valley State, while others competed in the Meyo Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind.

Senior Abraham Mach finished seventh in the 800-meter run in 1 minute, 50.93 seconds out of the more than 50 athletes at Notre Dame. Mach competed despite a knee injury that kept him off the track for the last two weeks.

"Overall I'm satisfied with the time, but not with the place," Mach said. "This week I am going to put in a lot of miles on the track and then I should be able to get to where I can do better than that."

Junior pole vaulter Marcus Briedinger finished ninth out of the more than 30 competitors. His top vault was 16 feet, 4.75 inches.

The 1,600m relay team finished in 10th place in 3:16.85, only eight seconds behind the winner, Northern Illinois. CMU edged out Eastern Michigan, which finished in 11th place by one-tenth of a second.

Junior Marcell Maxwell finished 22nd in the 60m and 23rd 200m races. Maxwell finished the 60m dash in 7.08 seconds and the 200m in 22.67.

Freshmen Dave Ashcraft, Kyle Fortin and Emanuel Sledge finished with season-high times in the 400m dash. Fortin set a persona-best with a time of 49.005 seconds and placed 24th. Ashcraft and Sledge finished 23rd and 31st, respectively.

"The competition was better than last year at Notre Dame. It was just like competing at MAC Championships," Maxwell said. "It just shows me that the first year guys can come and compete at big meets."

The University of Wisconsin and Purdue both took first-place finishes in three events, tying for most in the event.

"It was the most amazing meet that I've ever been to," Fortin said. "It had the top competition in the nation, and it was enough to push me to do my best."

At the Collegiate Open Indoor Classic, top performances included junior Riak Mabil's second-place finish in the 3000m run with a time of 8:44.99. Freshman Matt Erdmans took second place in the 800m run in 1:57.23.

Redshirt freshman Cyrus Azizi finished third in the 400m in 51.24 seconds, while sophomore Nana Adomako was third in the 60m dash in 7.11.


sports@cm-life.com

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