Men's track and field wins four events, posts 17 top-five finishes at Black and Gold Invite
The Central Michigan men’s track and field team traveled to warmer climates this weekend to escape the inclement weather in Michigan.
As it turns out, the poor weather found them anyway.
The Chippewas sent most of the team to the Black and Gold Invitational — hosted by the University of Vanderbilt — in Nashville, Tenn., over the weekend to open the outdoor season, but the meet was cut short due to severe weather in the area.
“We knew going into the meet that we were going to have to deal with the weather," said Willie Randolph, CMU's director of cross country and track and field. "It’s something our kids were prepared for so it didn’t really affect us.”
CMU did not appear to be phased by the weather, as several athletes had impressive performances before the meet was canceled due to poor conditions. CMU won four events and had 17 top-five performances on the day.
Perhaps most notably was the performance of standout freshman sprinter Ross Parsons, who had one of those wins. Parsons won the 100-meter dash and took second in the 200-meter dash. Fellow underclassmen Greg Knaus finished third and fourth, respectively, in the same events.
Freshman Parker Scott joined the underclassmen parade to the podium by winning the 400-meter hurdles.
“I was really impressed with the performances by some of our young kids,” Randolph said. “It's great to see them get it done and finish the top five.”
As impressive as the young athletes were, the upperclassmen weren’t to be outdone as junior Charles Stinson won 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.16 seconds.
The men's 4x100 meter relay team of David Ashcraft, Renaldo Powell, Parsons and Knaus also finished first.
The Chippewas were also impressive in the field events, as senior John Calvert finished second in the shot put with a throw of 54 feet.
Junior Ryan McCullough finished second in both the hammer throw and the discus, setting personal bests in both events. Junior Kevin Bacon added a second place finish in the triple jump, leaping 44 3 1/4 feet.
“This weekend was a solid meet for us as a team and me personally,” McCullough said. “I still think I have more left in the tank, but it was a good stepping stone.”
Stanford Invite
The Chippewas also sent distance runners Tecumseh Adams and Matt Lutzke to the Stanford Invitational in California. Adams finished eighth in the men’s 5000-meter run.
“I think a lot of solid things were accomplished this weekend," Randolph said. "It’s a very promising way to start the outdoor season. It was a good weekend, but staying focused in practice is still the number one priority. We still have work to do.”
The Chippewas will stay closer to home next weekend when they travel to Toledo, Ohio, to compete in the Toledo Collegiate Challenge.
