Eastern Michigan Athletics
Men's Track to Wrap Up Regular Season
5/8/2008 2:42:30 PM | Men's Track & Field
Final tune-up before the MAC Championship
FINAL TUNE-UP: The Eastern Michigan University men’s track team will travel across the county to the University of Michigan for the Len Paddock Invitational, Friday and Saturday May 9-10. Friday’s action will begin at 1 p.m. with the hammer, with the 400-meter hurdles and 1,500 meters starting at 6:30 and 7 p.m., respectively. Saturday’s action will begin at 10 a.m. with the shot put. The 4x100 relay will start the running events at 12:30 p.m. This is the last meet for the Eagles before heading to Bowling Green, Ohio, for the Mid-American Conference Championship.
ALLEN MAC BEST: Clint Allen was named the Mid-American Conference Track Athlete of the Week, May 6. Allen continued his onslaught on the EMU record books at the 23rd annual Jesse Owens Classic at Ohio State University. He ran the third fastest time in school history at the meet, 10.28, beating out Michigan’s Adam Harris for the win. Allen moves into select company on the all-time list with Hasely Crawford, the 1976 Olympic champion; Dazel Jules, seven-time MAC sprint champion, internationalist, and NCAA All-American; and Kevin Lawson, All-American and four-time time MAC champion. His time also moves him up to 12th in the nation and fourth in the Mideast region. His time was also an NCAA Regional qualifying mark. Allen was also a member of the 4x100-meter relay team that ran a season-best 40.96 to finish third behind Indiana and Michigan.
ARKANSAS BOUND: Several Eastern Michigan trackmen have qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional meet in Fayetteville, Ark., May 30-31. Clint Allen is the Eagles’ top ranked athlete, as he sits in fourth place in the region in the 100 meters and 12th in the nation. Eric Alejandro has qualified in two events for the Eagles. At the Drake Relays (April 23-26), he ran a season-best 14.18 in the 110-meter hurdles to qualify. The following week at the Jesse Owens Classic (May 3), he ran a career-best 51.29 in the 400-meter hurdles, ranking him 31st in the nation. Junior David Brent has also qualified for the regional meet in two events. At Stanford, Brent qualified in the 1,500 meters (3:47.64) and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:03.53). This is the second year in a row that Brent has qualified for the regional meet. At the Stanford Invitational Josh Karanja also qualified for the regional meet for the second straight year in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Karanja ran the race in a time of 8:58.57 on his way to an 11th place finish. He also ran in the 1,500 meters, running in a time of 3:52.53. Gerald Gersham qualified for the NCAA regional meet for the first time in his career at the CMU Dual in the shot put. He threw 55-04.25 to qualify. Sophomore transfer Xavier Clais gualified for his trip to the regionals, clearing 6-10.75 in the high jump at the Jesse Owens Classic (May 3).
CLOSE CALLS: The 4x100-meter relay team of Eric Alejandro, Ackeem Forde, Oliver Walther, and Clint Allen have run a season best 40.96, just .30 seconds off the NCAA regional mark. Others look to qualify at the Len Paddock and at the MAC Championship. Conference champions automatically qualify for the NCAA regional meet no matter their mark. Allen is only hundreths off the 200 meter qualifying time.
TWICE AS NICE: Eric Alejandro earned his second Mid-American Conference Track Athlete of the Week, April 21. At the EMU Invitational, the Eagles recorded victories in both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays, as well as the 400-hurdles and Alejandro played a part in all three. First he teamed up with Ackeem Forde, Oliver Walther and Clint Allen to take the win in the 4x100 (41.53). He followed it up with a time of 52.19 in the 400-meter hurdles, an NCAA Regional qualifying time, his third consecutive mark this season. He then closed out the day, teaming up with Forde, Kevin Lanier and Nate Blackwell and posted a season-best mark of 3:12.97, edging out the Michigan Wolverines.Alejandro also recorded a second place finish in the 110-meter hurdles, running 14.53.
Alejandro previously earned the honor April 14 for his work at the Sea Ray Relays. He ran in two individual events and two relays at the 42nd annual Sea Ray Relays, April 11-12. He qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regionals in the 400-meter hurdles for the second week in a row with a time of 52.46 and would have qualified in the 110-meter hurdles, except that the tailwind was just above (4.1) the allowable (4.0) He finished fifth in both the hurdles against some stiff competition, including two nationally ranked individuals in each event. He was also part of the 4x110-meter shuttle hurdle relay and the 4x400-meter relay.
EAGLES DOMINATE CHIPPEWAS IN DUAL: The EMU trackmen defeated the CMU Chippewas 115-59 in the annual dual, April 5. Four Eagles took home multiple event titles. Ackeem Forde was a double winner for the Eagles, taking the 100 and 200 meters (11.09 and 22.66, respectively). Neal Naughton took two events for the Eagles as well, winning the 1,500 meters (4:04.75) and 3,000 meters (8:41.23). Freshman Kevin Lanier won both the hurdles, finishing the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.29 seconds and 55.65 seconds for the 400 hurdles. Gerald Gersham was the final double winner for the Eagles, taking the shot and the hammer.
EAGLES 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.
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 indoor 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.
