Eastern Michigan Athletics
Track Opens Outdoor Season
4/3/2008 4:11:42 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
The men's and women's squad head to California and Mount Pleasant
YPSILANIT, Mich.- The Eastern Michigan University men’s and women's track and field team will hit the road to take part in two meets. The first will be April 4-5 at the 34th Annual Stanford Invitational, where the women will take a handful of athletes and the men's team will take six to compete against the nation's elite. Friday’s events will begin at 8:45 a.m., while Saturday’s will begin at 9 a.m. Curtis Vollmar, Jake DuBois, Clint Allen, Josh Karanja, David Brent and Eric Alejandro will represent the men's squad, while Melissa Green, Kalli Williams, Janice Keppler, Lauren Quaintance, Beverly Elcock, Jasmine Gates, Brittany Lockhart, Dejaa Shearer and Andrea Wheeler will represent the women. The rest of the men's squad will travel to instate rival Central Michigan University for the annual dual, April 5 in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
WATCH THE EAGLES IN CALIFORNIA:
The trip to California may be too long for some fans, but fear not, Flotrack.org will provide video coverage of the Stanford Invite by filming all races and interviewing student-athletes. Each race will be archived on Flotrack.org at: http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/coverage.php?c=234, starting on the evening of Friday, April 4.MEN'S TEAM PICKED TO WIN: The Eagles were picked to win their second consecutive Mid-American Conference title this spring. The 2008 men’s squad, under the direction of head coach Brad Fairchild returns 2007 All-MAC selections in senior Eric Alejandro and juniors David Brent and Josh Karanja. The 2008 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held at Bowling Green State University May 15-17, in Bowling Green, Ohio.
WOMEN'S TEAM PICKED TO FINISH NINTH:
The Eagles were picked to finish ninth at the Mid-American Conference Championship this spring, as voted on by the leagues head coaches. The Green and White, of head coach Sue Parks, return Janice Keppler, the 2007 pole vault champion, as well as senior Andrea Wheeler a five-time MAC scorer (indoor and outdoors) in the hurdles. Junior Melissa Green finished fifth in the 5,000 meters and sixth in the steeplechase last year.WOMEN'S INDOOR SEASON WRAP-UP: Led by two seniors and juniors and a handful of underclassman, the Eastern Michigan University women’s track and field team closed out the indoor portion of its 2008 schedule by finishing seventh as a team at the MAC Championship, Feb. 29-March 1.
As head coach Sue Parks continues to rebuild the team, throughout the two-month season, there were 42 collegiate-bests set, along with one school record (pole vault). The Eagles had one individual named to the All-MAC and Academic All-MAC squad.
FOR THE 12TH TIME... In front of hundreds of alumni, family and friends, the Eastern Michigan University men’s track and field team won its 12th Mid-American Conference title and third in a row, Feb. 29-March 1, at Bob Parks Track. The Eagles accumulated 207 points in the two-day meet to outdistance the second place finisher, the University of Akron, by 83 points. The margin set a MAC meet record for the largest margin of victory.
