Indoor Track & Field Returns After Winter Break

INDIANAPOLIS--After nearly one month away from competition, five indoor track & field squads returned to action over the weekend.

Bob Eubanks Open
The UIC men's and women's track & field teams completed competition at the Bob Eubanks Open Friday afternoon.  UIC took home three individual titles in the women's 800-meter run, women's 3,000-meter run and men's triple jump. 

Rebecca Zaiter brought home an individual title in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:16.38, while Tess Ehrhardt also secured first place in the 3,000-meter run, crossing the finish line at 10:29.18.

"Rebecca and Tess came out of the gate with great efforts," said head coach Jim Knoedel.  "The weather over break made it tough to get in quality work, so, I am impressed that they ran that fast so early."

Other notable finishes on the women's side included Emma Preston's performance in the one-mile run.  Preston finished third of five runners with a time of 5:25.02.

In the women's field events, Noelle Williams and Desirae Ranberg competed in the weight throw, logging scores of 12.86 meters and 12.80 meters, respectively.

On the men's side, Seyi Ogunleye took home first place in the men's triple jump.  Ogunleye recorded a distance of 13.94 meters beating his nearest opponent by nearly half of a meter.  

"Seyi turned in a top notch performance in the triple jump," said Knoedel.

Sophomore Martin Hunter ran in the 60-meter dash crossing the finish line in 7.21 seconds.

Hunter also participated in the 200-meter dash with teammate Patryk Dolega securing seventh and 12th place with times of 22.69 and 23.40 seconds, respectively.

Richmond, Ill., native Matt Marzahl competed in the 300-meter race finishing in 38.96 seconds.  Marzahl also recorded a time of 9.21 seconds in the men's 60-meter hurdles.

UIC will resume competition next weekend (Jan. 17), when the women travel to Romeoville, Ill., to participate in the Dick Pond-Lewis Invitational and the men travel to Wisconsin for the UWM Triangular. 

Eastern Michigan Triangular
The Detroit and Oakland track & field teams competed at the Bowen Fieldhouse on the campus of Eastern Michigan on Friday evening. Detroit placed second on both the men’s and women’s side, while Oakland finished third on both sides.

For Detroit, senior Eric Lewis was third in the weight throw while junior Colin Cashner had a personal best of 15.00 meters which was almost two meters better than his previous best of 13.26m.

In the mile run, redshirt freshman Austin Wigent ran 4:21.18 to place fourth. The other long distance race saw Detroit freshman Ryan Leahy set a personal record at 8:54.24 and come in third.

Freshman Brandon Wilks ran 7.03 and was second in the 60 meter dash while senior Charles Anthony was just behind at a 7.05 mark.

Freshman Khalil Parris had a time of 50.68 in the 400 meter run and also anchored the 4x400 meter relay team to a second place finish.

Sophomore Joshua Carolin led the 800 meter race for 750 meters but came in with a third place finish and a strong time of 1:56.08.

The next meet for the Titans is scheduled for Jan. 18 as Detroit will compete in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan.

Bryce Stroede and Sammy Mondry both won the 3K races for Oakland.

Candice Mack and Serena San Cartier added nice finishes in the 200m with a second-place 26.45 for Mack and a third-place 26.57 for San Cartier. For the men's 200m, Aaron Davis earned a fourth-place finish with a time of 22.83.

"It was great to see the team back in competition," commented head coach Paul Rice. "We definitely need to get back into a good training rhythm after the semester break. We didn't have everyone competing today and that is reflected in the team scores, but the athletes that did compete put in some really nice performances. Overall, we needed a good starting point coming off the break and today gave us that. We will be able to get a solid week in before CMU and bring everyone back into it next week."

Oakland next competes on Jan. 17 at the Jack Skoog Open at Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Buckeye Classic
The Wright State track & field teams competed Friday at the Buckeye Classic, held at the French Field House on the Ohio State campus.

Top finishers for the Raiders were Kaley Moss, who was third in the pole vault, Kalynn Daniels, fourth in the high jump, Courtney Ballard, fourth in the pole vault, Kacia Grant, fifth in the 200 meter dash and Natassia Roberts, fifth in the shot put.  The 4x400 meter relay of Grant, Katasha Griffiths, E'shira Gooden and Jameela Henderson placed fourth.

Wright State is back in action Jan. 17 at the Northwest Ohio Invitational.

Hillsdale Winter Opener
The Crusader women’s track & field team returned to competition Saturday, traveling to Hillsdale, Mich. to take part in the Hillsdale Winter Opener. The Crusaders finished the event with five second place finishes and a handful of top ten finishes.

Sarah Peters, Sarah Drozdowski, Jazmin Taylor, and Ann Chapman each took second place finishes at the meet. In the pole vault, Peters cleared a height of 11’ 7 ¾”, which was not only good for second in the event, but first on the Crusader’s all-time chart. Drozdowksi finished the day with two second place finishes. The first came in the weight throw as she was able to post a distance of 56’0”, and the second came in the shot put where she threw for a distance of 41’7 ¼”. Drozdowski’s effort in the weight throw was good for third on the Crusader’s all-time chart. In the high jump, Jazmin Taylor was able to replicate her career best height, clearing 5’3 ¼” in the event.

Chapman placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 31’7 ½”. Chapman also found success in the long jump, as she cleared 15’2” which was good for a top ten finish.

On the track, Kelli Wosick finished the 400m dash in 1:02.71, which was good for an eighth place finish in the event. Elsewhere, Nicole Zehel took third in the 800m run, clocking in at 2:23.85.

The Crusader women now have the week to prepare for the GVSU Invitational, which takes place on Jan. 17.