2008 Woodie Awards
Central starts at WMU Saturday
By: Jacob Lougheed
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Sports
After the opening meet of the outdoor track season was canceled because of snow, the women's track and field team's season will begin Saturday.
The team will compete against Western Michigan in the Compass Classic in Kalamazoo. The Chippewas were scheduled to open the season March 29 at the Toledo Invitational.
"We are really ready to go to Western this weekend and compete against Western Michigan," said coach Karen Lutzke.
This weekend will be the first time some of the athletes will get to participate and travel with the team.
"Unfortunately, last week our meet was canceled and I have had a countdown probably since the indoor season started," said junior javelin thrower Allison Jakubowski. "I was a little disappointed, but I guess that will give me more energy to want to throw farther this weekend."
The team will face a tough Western team that is picked to finish in second in the Mid-American Conference coaches' poll. CMU is projected to come in fifth place.
"They are strong in a lot of events, especially the sprints, the jumps and the throws," Lutzke said. "Probably their weakest area is their distance events and that is an area we can pick up some points."
Both CMU and Western finished the indoor season in the same spots they were picked in the coaches poll in the outdoor season. Lutzke said a lot of the coaches just go with last season's standings when they make their rankings.
"Our goal is to see what we can do see how we stack up against Western outdoors because indoors it's a whole different ball game," Lutzke said. "On paper they are the better team, but we have to do, it at the competition."
Jakubowski thinks the team members will be fine this weekend as long as they maintain their composure.
"I think one of the things we need to do is relax," Jakubowski said. "Sometimes nerves can get the best of all of us and everyone just needs to relax a have fun with it and compete well."
The team's goal is to improve on last season's MAC outdoor finish. CMU finished the outdoor season third in the conference.
"We have more people that can score," Lutzke said. "Last year we had a few superstars who scored a lot of points and they weren't there this indoor season and we weren't that far off of where we were last indoor season. We just need a few more people to step it up and give their best performance at the MAC meet to get us points so we can be right there in the hunt for top three."
sports@cm-life.com
The team will compete against Western Michigan in the Compass Classic in Kalamazoo. The Chippewas were scheduled to open the season March 29 at the Toledo Invitational.
"We are really ready to go to Western this weekend and compete against Western Michigan," said coach Karen Lutzke.
This weekend will be the first time some of the athletes will get to participate and travel with the team.
"Unfortunately, last week our meet was canceled and I have had a countdown probably since the indoor season started," said junior javelin thrower Allison Jakubowski. "I was a little disappointed, but I guess that will give me more energy to want to throw farther this weekend."
The team will face a tough Western team that is picked to finish in second in the Mid-American Conference coaches' poll. CMU is projected to come in fifth place.
"They are strong in a lot of events, especially the sprints, the jumps and the throws," Lutzke said. "Probably their weakest area is their distance events and that is an area we can pick up some points."
Both CMU and Western finished the indoor season in the same spots they were picked in the coaches poll in the outdoor season. Lutzke said a lot of the coaches just go with last season's standings when they make their rankings.
"Our goal is to see what we can do see how we stack up against Western outdoors because indoors it's a whole different ball game," Lutzke said. "On paper they are the better team, but we have to do, it at the competition."
Jakubowski thinks the team members will be fine this weekend as long as they maintain their composure.
"I think one of the things we need to do is relax," Jakubowski said. "Sometimes nerves can get the best of all of us and everyone just needs to relax a have fun with it and compete well."
The team's goal is to improve on last season's MAC outdoor finish. CMU finished the outdoor season third in the conference.
"We have more people that can score," Lutzke said. "Last year we had a few superstars who scored a lot of points and they weren't there this indoor season and we weren't that far off of where we were last indoor season. We just need a few more people to step it up and give their best performance at the MAC meet to get us points so we can be right there in the hunt for top three."
sports@cm-life.com
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