Men's track finishes last at MAC championships, sees great individual marks
Central Michigan posted a number of spectacular performances at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships, signaling significant improvement and a bright future for the track program, despite their overall team placement.
Although the team saw individual performances in a MAC champion, two record-breaking events and a page-full of MAC medalists, CMU's combined 42 points was not enough to place higher than last out of the five teams participating.
The highlight of the meet was senior Renaldo Powell’s record-breaking championship run in the 60m hurdles. In the finals, Powell won the race with a time of 7.74 seconds, edging ahead of second place finisher, sophomore William Barnes from Kent State, by just .01 seconds.
“He’s not the tallest hurdler in America, but he’s got a huge heart,” said Director of track and field Mark Guthrie. “With every step, he built momentum. It was a great race.”
Powell’s time surpassed Greg Richardson’s 60m hurdle record of 7.76, a goal Powell has had since he slipped on his first pair of track spikes at CMU. He also demolished the Kent State Fieldhouse record of 7.82 with the run.
“I warmed up early, so I sat and visualized the race," Powell said. "I was pretty calm until right there before the race started, and then I realized this could be my last time on the track. I had the second and third place guys right next to me, and I couldn’t let them beat me.”
If Powell’s time of 7.74 keeps him ranked in the top 16 nationally, he will advance to the national meet in Albuquerque, N.M. He is currently ranked 12th, but because not all of the national seeds have played out yet, Powell will not be sure if he advances until later this week.
“I think I can go another tenth of a second faster and I only get that one chance," Powell said. "This was actually pretty sloppy, it was just adrenaline that kept me going."
If he is able to combine that adrenaline and focus on minor mechanics, Powell now has a chance at being All-American.
Other top finishers include senior Alex Rose and sophomore Cole Walderzak, who came in third and fourth in the shot put, respectively. Sophomore Nate Ghena and freshman Spencer Nousain finished fourth and fifth in the 5000m, respectively. Junior Kyle Allinder came in fifth in the 800m run.
Junior Ethan Lievense had a big weekend at the MAC meet. On Saturday, Lievense tripled in events. In both the men’s mile and the 3K, Lievense finished fifth, coming in at 4:10.91 and 8:25.06.
Lievense also rounded out the school record-setting distance medley relay of junior Nathan Huff, senior Parker Scott and freshman Tyler Hamilton.
“I usually run pretty confident going into my events, but I was nervous going into the DMR,” Lievense said. “There were guys on that relay that hadn’t yet (gotten) a MAC medal, and I wanted to make sure they’d bring home some hardware.”
Lievense started out his leg of the race sitting in fourth place, but out-sprinted Akron senior Zach Goulet at the finish to earn third place. The team finished in 9:53.85, breaking the previous school record of 9:54.6.
“It was all pretty surreal,” he said. “I’m very proud to have placed and to contribute to the team.”
The indoor season is over for the Chippewas.
“This is a new era of Chips,” Lievense said. “We all know that it won’t be a quick fix, but in a few short years, Central is going to be back. There’s a new life in the program, a new spark.”
Now the athletes will look to the upcoming outdoor track season which begins March 28 at the Louisville Open in Louisville, Ky.
“The indoor season isn’t the best indicator for outdoor because we’ll be gaining and losing quite a few athletes,” Guthrie said. “But what it does give us is a better starting point, it gives the athletes momentum. We’re on to something, and we’re going the right way.”
