Track and field dominates competition at Jack Skoog Open
In the first and only home meet of the season, track and field marked itself as a dominant force.
Saginaw Valley State, Cornerstone, Alma, Oakland and Northwood University all traveled to the Indoor Athletic Center to compete at Friday night in the Jack Skoog Open. The men and women edged were far ahead of their competition coming in 46 points ahead of second place Oakland on the men’s side and 40 points ahead on the women’s.
“This meet was to figure out where we’re at. We are stronger in areas than we thought we were when we started this whole process back in September,” said track and field director Mark Gurthie. “We had several lifetime bests, and that’s always good no matter how you slice it.”
Among athletes achieving lifetime bests, senior Renaldo Powell stood out. Powell pulled ahead of his competition in the 60m dash, coming in first with a time of 7.01. In the 60m hurdles, Powell’s 7.99 finish was good enough to earn him a first place and a qualifying ticket to the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships.
“I think the team as a whole did great,” Powell said. “We’ve all been moving in the right direction, we just need to keep working hard at practice.
Senior Megan Heffner beat her competition and own personal record in the high jump event clearing with a 5-8. Her previous record was 5-7. Heffner’s jump also ensured them a spot at the MAC Indoor Championships, soaring two inches over the 5-6 qualification mark.
On top of Powell and Heffner, sophomores Craig Mauldin, who flew 13.92m in triple jump, and Cole Walderzak, who shot put 16.56m qualified alongside senior Alex Rose, who threw 17.89m in weight throw.
The women had a slew of victories in the 400m dash, long jump, triple jump and weight throw. In addition, senior Shawntoreah Turk, and juniors Ravyn Baxter, Bridget Doughty and Emma Fishnick exceeded their competition by nearly 30 seconds in the 4 x 400m relay.
Central Michigan's women pole-vaulters took the top-three places, with sophomore Micaela Conter grabbing first place with 11-5. Junior Hailey Love and senior Kelly Morrissey came in right behind her.
The Chippewas swept the field in the men’s mile, coming in first through fifth. Junior Ethan Lievense surged into first with a 4:19:98, and sophomore Nate Ghena came in right behind at 4:20:90.
Junior Abey Kelto and freshman Brooke Morgan both took first and second in the 3000 meter run, coming in at 10:26:41 and 11:26:52, respectively. Sophomore Alyssa Dyer and freshman Kelly Schubert finished first and second in the women’s mile, coming in at 5:09:75 and 5:10:39.
"We saw a lot of really good marks tonight. I’m excited to see what the season has to offer,” Heffner said.
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