Track and field set for MAC Indoor Championships
Countless hours of hard work will finally pay off for Central Michigan track and field qualifiers at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships this weekend.
More than 50 CMU qualifiers have been working to compete in the championship held at Kent State.
"Our goal is to have as many personal records in the meet (as possible)," said director of track and field Mark Guthrie.
PR goals are not unfamiliar to the Chippewas this season. Numerous athletes have broken personal bests that have ultimately brought them to the MAC Indoor Championships.
Senior Shawntoreah Turk has improved her times throughout the season. Turk leads her competition in the 400-meter dash with a seed time of 53.76, which she placed at the Grand Valley State University Big Meet on Feb. 14.
Her time already beats the previous MAC meet record, set by LaTanya Nobles in 1997, by 1.18 seconds. Turk beat the school record in the 400m with a time of 53.98 at the Akron Invitational, preceding Jeanie Edwards' time of 53.82, set in 2007.
In the women's 3000-meter run, juniors Krista Parks and Breanne Lesnar and freshman Kelly Schubert qualified for the MAC Indoor Championships. Lesnar also qualified for the women's 5000 meter run with a seed time of 16:53.29, placing her in third behind the athletes from Toledo and Eastern Michigan.
Senior Megan Heffner holds a seed mark of 1.75 in the women's high jump. Heffner has seen many first place finishes in meets such as the Jack Skoog Open, the Eastern Michigan University Triangular-Quad and Silverston Invitational.
She is one of several Chippewas who are expected to place highly in the MAC Indoor Championships.
"Shawntoreah Turk has an opportunity to win," Guthrie said. "Megan Heffner in the high jump, and Shaya Wilkerson in the triple jump, have a good chance of getting up there (as well)."
On the men's side, senior Renaldo Powell and freshman Quincy Briggs will compete in the 60-meter hurdles. Powell, familiar to the MAC Indoor Championships and frequent PR-breaker, leads the current competition with a seed time of 7.80.
The current MAC meet record is held by Ron Andrews, set in 2002 with a finishing time of 7.72.
"We have a legitimate shot at a champion in Renaldo Powell in the 60-meter hurdles," Guthrie said.
Junior Curtis Mitchell qualified for both the 60m dash and 200m dash. Sophomore Matt Mueller and freshman Melvin Harris both qualified for the men's high jump event.
Tickets for the MAC Indoor Championships run from Feb. 28 until March 1 in Kent, Ohio.
