Eastern Michigan Athletics
Thursday, May 15
Athens, Ohio
All Day
Eastern Michigan University
at
MAC Outdoor Championship
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Eagles Primed for MAC Championships
5/14/2014 3:05:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Men's track and field travels to Athens, Ohio in search of conference title
Complete Schedule of Events
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)-- Eastern Michigan University's men's track and field team will head down to Athens, Ohio, May 15-17, in search of its first Mid-American Conference Championship since the 2009-2010 campaign, when the Eagles swept both the indoor and outdoor conference meets. The Green and White enters the 2014 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the highest-ranked team according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in the 35th spot, dropping from a season-high 26th last week.
The Eagles will square off against four other institutions over the course of the three-day event. Leading the pack will most likely be defending MAC champion the University of Akron, who also claimed the 2014 MAC Indoor Championship on March 1. The squad will see familiar teams from the indoor season in the University at Buffalo, Central Michigan University, and Kent State University, while Miami University will join the lineup for the outdoor meet.
The following is a review of each team based on their strengths, key athletes, and national rankings. Live results will be available throughout the meet via timerhub.com.
EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles boast the highest national ranking according to the USTFCCCA, sitting in 35th out of 189 NCAA Division I programs. Coming off a third-place finish at the 2014 MAC Indoor Championships as well as finishing third at the 2013 MAC Outdoor Championships, the Green and White is on the hunt for a championship title. Of the 20 athletes that finished in the top-eight at last year's conference meet, 13 Eagles remain on the 2014 roster. The squad boasts numerous athletes that will make a run for a victory in their respective events and have strong standings in regional and national rankings.
The sprints will likely be headlined by Cameron Bolton (Missouri City, Texas-Hightower) and Chris Scott (Holt, Mich.-Holt). The duo ranks in the top-10 in both the 100m and 200m for the conference; Scott holds the fifth spot in the 100m at 10.61 seconds while Bolton follows closely behind at 10.62 seconds while claiming the third-best finish of the season in the 200m (21.05) with Scott holding down the ninth spot at 21.46. Bolton and Scott are also one-half of the powerhouse that has become the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams. Paired up with Tyler Brown (Findlay, Ohio-Findlay) and Jeff Elam (Latrobe, Pa.-Greater Latrobe Senior), the 4x100m team broke the EMU record on two consecutive tries at the Drake Relays, April 25-26. Their mark of 39.98 seconds stands as the best time in the conference by a margin of nearly 0.2 seconds, and broke the 40-second barrier for the first time in program history. Additionally, the relay team holds the 14th-best time in the NCAA East Region and 34th nationally. The 4x400m has had equal success, switching out Scott for Mason Waynes (Kenosha, Wis.-Bradford) in the lineup. The quartet recorded a time of 3:06.54 to lead the conference by over two seconds and sit at the 12th spot in NCAA East Region rankings and 26th nationally.
In addition to searching for victories in both relays, freshman standout Brown will look to pick up his second 400m MAC Championship title of his young career. The Findlay, Ohio native won the 400m at the 2014 MAC Indoor Championships and has become a fierce competitor in the event throughout the remainder of his rookie season. At the Mt. SAC Relays, April 18, Brown ran a scorching 46.02 to claim a victory at the illustrious meet. His mark leads the conference by nearly a second as well as ranking 13th in the NCAA East Region and 19th among national competitors.
Moving into the middle-distance events, Grzegorz Kalinowski (Torun, Poland-Nicolaus Copernicus University) is looking to improve on a runner-up finish from last season in the 1500m. Considering his current mark is over 10 seconds faster than his time of 3:52.15 that earned him a second-place finish, Kalinowski has made immense strides in what was already a strong event for the senior. The Polish native knocked nearly four seconds off his personal-best in a breakthrough performance at the Billy Hayes Invitational, May 3, when he clocked a time of 3:41.80. Kalinowski easily leads the MAC and boasts the fifth-fastest time in the region and 12th-best mark in the nation.
The Eagles can expect to score a fair amount of points in the distance events, led by Harry Dixon (Nelson, New Zealand-Nayland College), Willy Fink (Maumee, Ohio-Maumee), and Warren Witchell (Williamston, Mich.-Dansville). The trio holds down the second, third, and fourth spots in conference standings, as Dixon and Fink lead the pack at 14:12.65 and 14:14.35, respectively, and Witchell has notched a season-best time of 14:23.01. In the 10,000m run, Lahsene Bouchikhi (Antwerp, Belgium) will aim to be a strong competitor at the longest event that MAC track and field has to offer. The Belgian native picked up third-place finishes in both the 3000m and 5000m at the 2014 MAC Indoor Championships, and currently holds the fourth-fastest time in the conference for the 10k (30:24.32).
Defending MAC Champion Daryl Smith (Windsor, Ontario-Vincent Massey S.S.) will look to defend his title in the 3000m steeplechase after winning the 2013 title by a comfortable seven-second margin, but will have to battle it out with Fink for the top spot in the conference. In his first season of competition, redshirt-freshman Fink holds the standard for the MAC in the event with a time of 9:03.30, but Smith is not far behind at 9:05.43. The pair is favored to go 1-2 in the steeplechase, as the third-fastest MAC competitor trails by nearly 10 seconds.
The squad also boasts a myriad of athletes in the upper rankings of the conference in the field events. Most notable is Donald Scott (Apopka, Fla.-Apopka), who is the undisputed contender for the triple jump title. Scott broke both EMU and MAC meet records at the indoor conference meet earlier this year with a leap of 15.85 meters/52 feet, but has since upped his game significantly to dominate MAC rankings in outdoor competition. The redshirt-junior leads the conference by nearly four feet with a mark of 16.34 meters/53 feet 7.75-inches and is currently the only member of the MAC to lead the nation in an event. Scott holds a considerable margin over Arkansas' Anthony May, who sits at second in the nation nearly seven inches behind the Eagle.
The Green and White have three other athletes that have the second-best marks in the MAC. Junior Solomon Ijah (Murrieta, Calif.-Murrieta Valley) sits behind Akron's Alex McCune in the decathlon after compiling 7,312 points at the Texas Relays, March 27. Ijah's score ranks eighth in the region and 17th in the nation. Also sitting among regional and national rankings is Max Babits (Howell, Mich.-Fowlerville). The senior earned All-American status in the indoor pole vault, and his outdoor mark of 5.35 meters/17 feet 6.5-inches ties him for the 10th-best height in the region and 24th in the nation. Rounding out the runners-up in conference standings is Aaron Benton (Dryden, Mich.-Almont), who trails Miami's Peter Stefanski by two centimeters in the high jump. Benton cleared a height of 2.10 meters/6 feet 10.75-inches to claim the second spot in the MAC, and teammate James O'Shea (Toledo, Ohio-St. Johns Jesuit) has also had a successful year with the fourth-best height at 2.06 meters/6 feet 9-inches.
Throwing events for EMU will likely feature a combination of Travis Harris (Walled Lake, Mich.-Walled Lake Central), Anthony Jones (Sandusky, Ohio-Sandusky), Quinn Levering (Caledonia, Ohio-River Valley), and Keith Williams (Sherman, Ill.-Williamsville). Harris leads the team in both the shot put and discus throw, ranking sixth in the conference in the shot put (16.28m/53-05.00) and 10th in the discus throw (49.38m/162-00). Joining Harris in the shot put are Levering and Williams, who sit at seventh (16.23m/53-03.00) and ninth (15.86m/52-00.50), respectively. After breaking the EMU hammer throw record in his first appearance of the season, Williams holds down the fourth-best mark in the MAC at 57.91 meters/190 feet, while Jones claimed his spot in the top-10 with a mark of 54.81 meters/179 feet 10-inches.
AKRON: The Zips will look to win their fourth consecutive outdoor title, and seem heavily favored with 23-of-27 athletes returning to the roster who finished in the top-eight at last season's meet. Currently, Akron is ranked 57th by the USTFCCCA. In 2013, the Zips had four individual MAC champions in Nicholas Banke, Shawn Barber, Martel Durant, and Alex McCune. Additionally, Banke was named the Most Valuable Performer after winning the discus throw and finishing runner-up in the shot put and hammer throw, while Barber was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer for his victory in the pole vault. However, the Zips will have to do without the powerful throws from Banke, which has diminished the Akron presence in the throwing events significantly since his graduation. Nonetheless, the Zips boast five athletes that pace the MAC, along with an additional 10 members of the team in the top-four.
Both Barber and McCune have put in solid marks en route to their efforts to reprise their titles of MAC Champion. Barber has command of the conference's finest pole vaulters with a margin of nearly one foot to hold the second-best mark in the NCAA East Region and fourth-highest vault in the nation at 5.60 meters/18 feet 4.50-inches. McCune has also proven to be a strong vaulter with the fourth-best vault in the conference at 5.24 feet/17 feet 2.25-inches, which sits at 14th in the nation. However, McCune's strength lies in the decathlon, in which he has already bested his mark from the 2013 campaign by more than 300 points. The junior amassed 7,768 points to win the event at the Mt. SAC Relays, earning him the third-best score of the year in the region and fifth nationally.
In addition to having a deep field in the pole vault, the Zips have taken control of the top-10 in the long jump, with an astounding six athletes among the conference's best marks. De'Vion Tate leads the way in a two-way tie for first, jumping 7.54 meters/24 feet 9-inches. Also clearing the 24-foot mark is Daryl Baptiste with the fourth-best mark at 7.40 meters/24 feet 3.5-inches. The list is rounded out by Joseph Oduho, Bryan Jones, Darien Spann, and McCune.
Not to be outdone by their field event counterparts, the Akron tracksters are equally formidable. Kyle Cochrun, the 2013 MAC Indoor MVP, leads the conference in the 5000m, barely edging out EMU's Dixon in 14:12.07. Meanwhile, the Zip field is deep in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m. The 400m features four athletes in the top-10, paced by Brent Gray in 47.22 seconds for the third spot on the list. In the 800m, Jake Hiltner holds the lead over the MAC in 1:49.28, while Clayton Murphy is in third with a time of 1:50.03. Murphy then paces teammate Daniel Zupan in the 1500m, as the pair sits in second and third behind Kalinowski of Eastern at 3:44.53 and 3:48.96.
BUFFALO: Ranked 83rd by the USTFCCA, the Bulls are looking to improve on a fifth-place performance from last season. Buffalo lost four of its 17 top-eight finishers from the 2013 MAC Outdoor Championships, but returns all three of its MAC champions in Ryan Billian, Jonathan Jones, and Austin Price. Billian will look to claim victory in the 110m hurdles after winning the conference title during his rookie campaign. Currently, the sophomore sits in second in the event with a mark of 14.07 seconds, but he also ties for the best distance in the long jump. Billian has been a rising star in the event, taking runner-up behind Akron's Daryl Baptiste in the indoor campaign, and has a season-best outdoor mark of 7.54 meters/24 feet 9-inches. Jones has continued to be a force in the shot put, leading the conference by over four feet at 19.87 meters/65 feet 02.25-inches. His mark is also the fourth-best in the NCAA East Region and seventh in the nation. Price comes into the MAC meet as the defending champion in the triple jump, but currently sits almost four feet behind EMU's Scott, the nation's leader in the event.
Buffalo will also look to Jacob Sunday and Evan Palmer to score for them on the field. Sunday leads the conference's javelin throwers with a season-best mark of 67.63 meters/221 feet 10-inches, while Palmer joins Jones in national standings. The senior has the second-best mark among MAC hammer throwers, notching a distance of 64.53 meters/211 feet 8-inches, which is the 12th-farthest throw in the region and 21st nationally.
The Bulls could see strong marks out of their high jumpers and pole vaulters, as three members of the team sit in each of the top-10 among conference rankings. In the high jump, Buffalo will look to John Strickland, Cody Jones, and Chris Reape, all of whom have cleared the two-meter barrier on the season. The pole vaulters will be comprised of Craig Howard, Adam Hume, and Mike Morgan. In an event heavily dominated by Akron, the Bulls will look to break into the top marks at the conference meet.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas have nowhere to go but up after finishing sixth at the 2013 MAC Outdoor Championships. Currently ranked 118th by the USTFCCCA, Central Michigan returns 14-of-17 top-eight finishers from last year's outdoor conference meet. CMU returns one MAC champion, as Parker Scott will try to claim a victory in the 400m hurdles to cap off his career as a Chippewa. Scott led the conference for the majority of the season in the 400H with a mark of 51.73 seconds until he was recently dethroned by Kent State's Miles Dunlap on May 9.
In addition to Scott, a trio of throwers has emerged to lead the conference in the discus and hammer throws. Freshman Dylan Banagis had a stellar weekend to claim the top spot in the conference, throwing 59.23 meters/194 feet 4-inches, which ranks ninth regionally and 17th nationally. He is followed up by Cole Walderzak in third (55.73m/1382-10) and Alex Rose in fourth (57.29m/187-11). Walderzak's mark stands as the 17th-best throw in the region, while Rose has the 19th spot. Additionally, Walderzak leads the Chippewas in the hammer throw with the third-farthest throw in the MAC and 17th in the region at 63.34 meters/207 feet 10-inches. Rose and Banagis also make an appearance on the hammer throw list, claiming the sixth (56.30m/184-08) and seventh (56.24m/183-10) spots, respectively.
Central Michigan should expect success in the distance events thanks to Nate Ghena and Spencer Nousain. Ghena paces Nousain in both the 5000m and 10,000m with the sixth spot in the conference's top-10 for the 5k (14:34.40) and the second-fastest mark in the 10k (30:08.17). Noussain's time of 14:43.22 in the 5k ranks the freshman ninth in the conference, while his 10k mark of 30:20.07 is the third-fastest of MAC competitors.
KENT STATE: The Golden Flashes enter the MAC Championships ranked 55th in the nation according to the latest USTFCCCA poll, and will be aiming to break through the barrier of a runner-up finish from the past three outdoor conference meets. Kent State will look to Wayne Gordon and Riak Reese to lead the way in the sprints, as the dynamic underclassman duo sits in elite competition regionally and nationally. Gordon paces Reese in both the 100m and 200m as the pair has control of the first and second marks in the conference in both events. Gordon's time of 10.22 seconds in the 100m also ranks 11th in the NCAA East Region and 22nd in the nation, and his 20.57 season-best finish in the 200m stands in 12th regionally and 21st nationally. Reese cracks the top-20 in the region in the 200m, claiming the 19th spot at 20.73 seconds. With the freshman on his tail, Gordon will look to reprise victories in both the 100m and 200m.
Another leader on the track, Miles Dunlap has cut over a second off his time in the 400m hurdles to lead the conference. The junior recently posted a time of 51.11 seconds to give returning champion Scott of CMU a close competition for the title and hold down the 10th-best time in the region and 24th-fastest mark in national rankings. In the shorter distance 110m hurdles, the Golden Flashes can also claim the conference leader in William Barnes, who is the only member of the MAC to post a sub-14-second mark at 13.99 seconds. Barnes teams up with Gordon, Reese, and Laron Brown III for the 4x100m relay, which should prove to be good competition for the Eagles. The quartet ran a time of 40.14 seconds for the second-fastest time in the conference and the 18th-fastest mark in the region.. Kent State also has the second-fastest 4x400m relay time, this time over two seconds behind the Eagles' lineup at 3:08.97. Dunlap and Brown make up half the 1600m relay team along with Matthew Tobin and Jacob Swords.
Swords returns as the incumbent 800m champion, but currently sits at sixth with a season-best time of 1:50.95 just behind freshman teammate Jared Fleming at 1:50.85. Kent State will also suffer a loss in the distance events after losing last year's Most Outstanding Track Performer Mike Heller, who won both the 5000m and 10,000m.
The Golden Flashes have a solid foundation of field eventers upon which they can rely to score points, led by two-time school record holder Matthias Tayala. Coming off an All-American season in the weight throw, Tayala has a solid reign over the MAC in the hammer throw with a distance of 72.11 meters/236 feet 7-inches. The junior has tacked on nearly 20 feet to his mark in the past year, throwing well beyond the 65.49 meters that won him the MAC championship title in 2013. Tayala currently ranks first in the NCAA East Region and third in the nation. Also hitting the regional charts is Reggie Jagers, who is second in the MAC in the discus throw at 59.19 meters/194 feet 2-inches. His mark is just two inches shy of CMU's Banagis and ranks 10th in the region as well as 18th nationally. Rounding out the throws group is another second-best mark in the MAC from Michael King. The sophomore sits well ahead of the rest of the field at 18.56 meters/60 feet 10.75-inches, but is far behind conference leader Jones, of Buffalo, by over four feet. Kent State also has a regionally-ranked pole vaulter in Jesse Oxley, whose mark of 5.28 meters/17 feet 3.75-inches is third in the MAC and 14th in the region.
MIAMI: The RedHawks join the MAC Championships only in the outdoor season, and look to match or improve upon a fourth-place showing in 2013. The squad lost eight of its 25 top-eight finishers, including 1500m champion Jarrod Eick, but returns Sam Spallinger and Peter Stefanski in hopes of repeating a conference title. Spallinger claimed the victory in the long jump with a distance of 7.43 meters at last year's meet and has done well this season, notching a season-best mark of 7.41 meters/24 feet 3.75-inches. However, the redshirt-senior has been bested throughout the 2014 campaign by sophomores Billian of Buffalo and Tate of Akron, both leaping 7.54 meters/24 feet 9-inches. In the high jump, Peter Stefanski currently leads the conference with a jump of 2.12 meters/6 feet 11.50-inches and will look to oust Akron's Durant for the crown in the event.
Miami has a pair of athletes that are expected to score well on the track in Jahquil Hargrove and David Wing. Hargrove is the only other MAC competitor to record a time under 47 seconds in the 400m besides EMU's EMU's Brown, as he holds the second spot in conference standings at 46.96 seconds. Wing should be in close contest with CMU's Ghena for the title in the 10,000m, holding less than a second over the Chippewa with his time of 30:07.56.
The RedHawks will also turn to Tyler Yee to score a handful of points in the javelin throw. The junior holds the second-best mark in the conference at 64.55 meters/211 feet 9-inches. Other members of the team have the potential to place well, such as Skyler Coburn in the 400m hurdles and Robert Stein in the shot put and hammer throw. Both Coburn and Stein have earned the third spot in MAC standings, as Coburn ran a season-best 52.15 in the 400H, while Stein threw for a distance of 18.03 meters/59 feet 2-inches to sit behind King of Kent State and nationally-ranked Jones of Buffalo.
The MAC Championships start Thursday, May 15, at 11:30 a.m. when the decathletes will begin their taxing 10-event schedule. The pole vault and hammer throw will be slated for the afternoon, with competition concluding at 9 p.m. with the 10,000m run. For more information, visit mac-sports.com.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com)-- Eastern Michigan University's men's track and field team will head down to Athens, Ohio, May 15-17, in search of its first Mid-American Conference Championship since the 2009-2010 campaign, when the Eagles swept both the indoor and outdoor conference meets. The Green and White enters the 2014 MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the highest-ranked team according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in the 35th spot, dropping from a season-high 26th last week.
The Eagles will square off against four other institutions over the course of the three-day event. Leading the pack will most likely be defending MAC champion the University of Akron, who also claimed the 2014 MAC Indoor Championship on March 1. The squad will see familiar teams from the indoor season in the University at Buffalo, Central Michigan University, and Kent State University, while Miami University will join the lineup for the outdoor meet.
The following is a review of each team based on their strengths, key athletes, and national rankings. Live results will be available throughout the meet via timerhub.com.
EASTERN MICHIGAN: The Eagles boast the highest national ranking according to the USTFCCCA, sitting in 35th out of 189 NCAA Division I programs. Coming off a third-place finish at the 2014 MAC Indoor Championships as well as finishing third at the 2013 MAC Outdoor Championships, the Green and White is on the hunt for a championship title. Of the 20 athletes that finished in the top-eight at last year's conference meet, 13 Eagles remain on the 2014 roster. The squad boasts numerous athletes that will make a run for a victory in their respective events and have strong standings in regional and national rankings.
The sprints will likely be headlined by Cameron Bolton (Missouri City, Texas-Hightower) and Chris Scott (Holt, Mich.-Holt). The duo ranks in the top-10 in both the 100m and 200m for the conference; Scott holds the fifth spot in the 100m at 10.61 seconds while Bolton follows closely behind at 10.62 seconds while claiming the third-best finish of the season in the 200m (21.05) with Scott holding down the ninth spot at 21.46. Bolton and Scott are also one-half of the powerhouse that has become the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams. Paired up with Tyler Brown (Findlay, Ohio-Findlay) and Jeff Elam (Latrobe, Pa.-Greater Latrobe Senior), the 4x100m team broke the EMU record on two consecutive tries at the Drake Relays, April 25-26. Their mark of 39.98 seconds stands as the best time in the conference by a margin of nearly 0.2 seconds, and broke the 40-second barrier for the first time in program history. Additionally, the relay team holds the 14th-best time in the NCAA East Region and 34th nationally. The 4x400m has had equal success, switching out Scott for Mason Waynes (Kenosha, Wis.-Bradford) in the lineup. The quartet recorded a time of 3:06.54 to lead the conference by over two seconds and sit at the 12th spot in NCAA East Region rankings and 26th nationally.
In addition to searching for victories in both relays, freshman standout Brown will look to pick up his second 400m MAC Championship title of his young career. The Findlay, Ohio native won the 400m at the 2014 MAC Indoor Championships and has become a fierce competitor in the event throughout the remainder of his rookie season. At the Mt. SAC Relays, April 18, Brown ran a scorching 46.02 to claim a victory at the illustrious meet. His mark leads the conference by nearly a second as well as ranking 13th in the NCAA East Region and 19th among national competitors.
Moving into the middle-distance events, Grzegorz Kalinowski (Torun, Poland-Nicolaus Copernicus University) is looking to improve on a runner-up finish from last season in the 1500m. Considering his current mark is over 10 seconds faster than his time of 3:52.15 that earned him a second-place finish, Kalinowski has made immense strides in what was already a strong event for the senior. The Polish native knocked nearly four seconds off his personal-best in a breakthrough performance at the Billy Hayes Invitational, May 3, when he clocked a time of 3:41.80. Kalinowski easily leads the MAC and boasts the fifth-fastest time in the region and 12th-best mark in the nation.
The Eagles can expect to score a fair amount of points in the distance events, led by Harry Dixon (Nelson, New Zealand-Nayland College), Willy Fink (Maumee, Ohio-Maumee), and Warren Witchell (Williamston, Mich.-Dansville). The trio holds down the second, third, and fourth spots in conference standings, as Dixon and Fink lead the pack at 14:12.65 and 14:14.35, respectively, and Witchell has notched a season-best time of 14:23.01. In the 10,000m run, Lahsene Bouchikhi (Antwerp, Belgium) will aim to be a strong competitor at the longest event that MAC track and field has to offer. The Belgian native picked up third-place finishes in both the 3000m and 5000m at the 2014 MAC Indoor Championships, and currently holds the fourth-fastest time in the conference for the 10k (30:24.32).
Defending MAC Champion Daryl Smith (Windsor, Ontario-Vincent Massey S.S.) will look to defend his title in the 3000m steeplechase after winning the 2013 title by a comfortable seven-second margin, but will have to battle it out with Fink for the top spot in the conference. In his first season of competition, redshirt-freshman Fink holds the standard for the MAC in the event with a time of 9:03.30, but Smith is not far behind at 9:05.43. The pair is favored to go 1-2 in the steeplechase, as the third-fastest MAC competitor trails by nearly 10 seconds.
The squad also boasts a myriad of athletes in the upper rankings of the conference in the field events. Most notable is Donald Scott (Apopka, Fla.-Apopka), who is the undisputed contender for the triple jump title. Scott broke both EMU and MAC meet records at the indoor conference meet earlier this year with a leap of 15.85 meters/52 feet, but has since upped his game significantly to dominate MAC rankings in outdoor competition. The redshirt-junior leads the conference by nearly four feet with a mark of 16.34 meters/53 feet 7.75-inches and is currently the only member of the MAC to lead the nation in an event. Scott holds a considerable margin over Arkansas' Anthony May, who sits at second in the nation nearly seven inches behind the Eagle.
The Green and White have three other athletes that have the second-best marks in the MAC. Junior Solomon Ijah (Murrieta, Calif.-Murrieta Valley) sits behind Akron's Alex McCune in the decathlon after compiling 7,312 points at the Texas Relays, March 27. Ijah's score ranks eighth in the region and 17th in the nation. Also sitting among regional and national rankings is Max Babits (Howell, Mich.-Fowlerville). The senior earned All-American status in the indoor pole vault, and his outdoor mark of 5.35 meters/17 feet 6.5-inches ties him for the 10th-best height in the region and 24th in the nation. Rounding out the runners-up in conference standings is Aaron Benton (Dryden, Mich.-Almont), who trails Miami's Peter Stefanski by two centimeters in the high jump. Benton cleared a height of 2.10 meters/6 feet 10.75-inches to claim the second spot in the MAC, and teammate James O'Shea (Toledo, Ohio-St. Johns Jesuit) has also had a successful year with the fourth-best height at 2.06 meters/6 feet 9-inches.
Throwing events for EMU will likely feature a combination of Travis Harris (Walled Lake, Mich.-Walled Lake Central), Anthony Jones (Sandusky, Ohio-Sandusky), Quinn Levering (Caledonia, Ohio-River Valley), and Keith Williams (Sherman, Ill.-Williamsville). Harris leads the team in both the shot put and discus throw, ranking sixth in the conference in the shot put (16.28m/53-05.00) and 10th in the discus throw (49.38m/162-00). Joining Harris in the shot put are Levering and Williams, who sit at seventh (16.23m/53-03.00) and ninth (15.86m/52-00.50), respectively. After breaking the EMU hammer throw record in his first appearance of the season, Williams holds down the fourth-best mark in the MAC at 57.91 meters/190 feet, while Jones claimed his spot in the top-10 with a mark of 54.81 meters/179 feet 10-inches.
AKRON: The Zips will look to win their fourth consecutive outdoor title, and seem heavily favored with 23-of-27 athletes returning to the roster who finished in the top-eight at last season's meet. Currently, Akron is ranked 57th by the USTFCCCA. In 2013, the Zips had four individual MAC champions in Nicholas Banke, Shawn Barber, Martel Durant, and Alex McCune. Additionally, Banke was named the Most Valuable Performer after winning the discus throw and finishing runner-up in the shot put and hammer throw, while Barber was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer for his victory in the pole vault. However, the Zips will have to do without the powerful throws from Banke, which has diminished the Akron presence in the throwing events significantly since his graduation. Nonetheless, the Zips boast five athletes that pace the MAC, along with an additional 10 members of the team in the top-four.
Both Barber and McCune have put in solid marks en route to their efforts to reprise their titles of MAC Champion. Barber has command of the conference's finest pole vaulters with a margin of nearly one foot to hold the second-best mark in the NCAA East Region and fourth-highest vault in the nation at 5.60 meters/18 feet 4.50-inches. McCune has also proven to be a strong vaulter with the fourth-best vault in the conference at 5.24 feet/17 feet 2.25-inches, which sits at 14th in the nation. However, McCune's strength lies in the decathlon, in which he has already bested his mark from the 2013 campaign by more than 300 points. The junior amassed 7,768 points to win the event at the Mt. SAC Relays, earning him the third-best score of the year in the region and fifth nationally.
In addition to having a deep field in the pole vault, the Zips have taken control of the top-10 in the long jump, with an astounding six athletes among the conference's best marks. De'Vion Tate leads the way in a two-way tie for first, jumping 7.54 meters/24 feet 9-inches. Also clearing the 24-foot mark is Daryl Baptiste with the fourth-best mark at 7.40 meters/24 feet 3.5-inches. The list is rounded out by Joseph Oduho, Bryan Jones, Darien Spann, and McCune.
Not to be outdone by their field event counterparts, the Akron tracksters are equally formidable. Kyle Cochrun, the 2013 MAC Indoor MVP, leads the conference in the 5000m, barely edging out EMU's Dixon in 14:12.07. Meanwhile, the Zip field is deep in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m. The 400m features four athletes in the top-10, paced by Brent Gray in 47.22 seconds for the third spot on the list. In the 800m, Jake Hiltner holds the lead over the MAC in 1:49.28, while Clayton Murphy is in third with a time of 1:50.03. Murphy then paces teammate Daniel Zupan in the 1500m, as the pair sits in second and third behind Kalinowski of Eastern at 3:44.53 and 3:48.96.
BUFFALO: Ranked 83rd by the USTFCCA, the Bulls are looking to improve on a fifth-place performance from last season. Buffalo lost four of its 17 top-eight finishers from the 2013 MAC Outdoor Championships, but returns all three of its MAC champions in Ryan Billian, Jonathan Jones, and Austin Price. Billian will look to claim victory in the 110m hurdles after winning the conference title during his rookie campaign. Currently, the sophomore sits in second in the event with a mark of 14.07 seconds, but he also ties for the best distance in the long jump. Billian has been a rising star in the event, taking runner-up behind Akron's Daryl Baptiste in the indoor campaign, and has a season-best outdoor mark of 7.54 meters/24 feet 9-inches. Jones has continued to be a force in the shot put, leading the conference by over four feet at 19.87 meters/65 feet 02.25-inches. His mark is also the fourth-best in the NCAA East Region and seventh in the nation. Price comes into the MAC meet as the defending champion in the triple jump, but currently sits almost four feet behind EMU's Scott, the nation's leader in the event.
Buffalo will also look to Jacob Sunday and Evan Palmer to score for them on the field. Sunday leads the conference's javelin throwers with a season-best mark of 67.63 meters/221 feet 10-inches, while Palmer joins Jones in national standings. The senior has the second-best mark among MAC hammer throwers, notching a distance of 64.53 meters/211 feet 8-inches, which is the 12th-farthest throw in the region and 21st nationally.
The Bulls could see strong marks out of their high jumpers and pole vaulters, as three members of the team sit in each of the top-10 among conference rankings. In the high jump, Buffalo will look to John Strickland, Cody Jones, and Chris Reape, all of whom have cleared the two-meter barrier on the season. The pole vaulters will be comprised of Craig Howard, Adam Hume, and Mike Morgan. In an event heavily dominated by Akron, the Bulls will look to break into the top marks at the conference meet.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN: The Chippewas have nowhere to go but up after finishing sixth at the 2013 MAC Outdoor Championships. Currently ranked 118th by the USTFCCCA, Central Michigan returns 14-of-17 top-eight finishers from last year's outdoor conference meet. CMU returns one MAC champion, as Parker Scott will try to claim a victory in the 400m hurdles to cap off his career as a Chippewa. Scott led the conference for the majority of the season in the 400H with a mark of 51.73 seconds until he was recently dethroned by Kent State's Miles Dunlap on May 9.
In addition to Scott, a trio of throwers has emerged to lead the conference in the discus and hammer throws. Freshman Dylan Banagis had a stellar weekend to claim the top spot in the conference, throwing 59.23 meters/194 feet 4-inches, which ranks ninth regionally and 17th nationally. He is followed up by Cole Walderzak in third (55.73m/1382-10) and Alex Rose in fourth (57.29m/187-11). Walderzak's mark stands as the 17th-best throw in the region, while Rose has the 19th spot. Additionally, Walderzak leads the Chippewas in the hammer throw with the third-farthest throw in the MAC and 17th in the region at 63.34 meters/207 feet 10-inches. Rose and Banagis also make an appearance on the hammer throw list, claiming the sixth (56.30m/184-08) and seventh (56.24m/183-10) spots, respectively.
Central Michigan should expect success in the distance events thanks to Nate Ghena and Spencer Nousain. Ghena paces Nousain in both the 5000m and 10,000m with the sixth spot in the conference's top-10 for the 5k (14:34.40) and the second-fastest mark in the 10k (30:08.17). Noussain's time of 14:43.22 in the 5k ranks the freshman ninth in the conference, while his 10k mark of 30:20.07 is the third-fastest of MAC competitors.
KENT STATE: The Golden Flashes enter the MAC Championships ranked 55th in the nation according to the latest USTFCCCA poll, and will be aiming to break through the barrier of a runner-up finish from the past three outdoor conference meets. Kent State will look to Wayne Gordon and Riak Reese to lead the way in the sprints, as the dynamic underclassman duo sits in elite competition regionally and nationally. Gordon paces Reese in both the 100m and 200m as the pair has control of the first and second marks in the conference in both events. Gordon's time of 10.22 seconds in the 100m also ranks 11th in the NCAA East Region and 22nd in the nation, and his 20.57 season-best finish in the 200m stands in 12th regionally and 21st nationally. Reese cracks the top-20 in the region in the 200m, claiming the 19th spot at 20.73 seconds. With the freshman on his tail, Gordon will look to reprise victories in both the 100m and 200m.
Another leader on the track, Miles Dunlap has cut over a second off his time in the 400m hurdles to lead the conference. The junior recently posted a time of 51.11 seconds to give returning champion Scott of CMU a close competition for the title and hold down the 10th-best time in the region and 24th-fastest mark in national rankings. In the shorter distance 110m hurdles, the Golden Flashes can also claim the conference leader in William Barnes, who is the only member of the MAC to post a sub-14-second mark at 13.99 seconds. Barnes teams up with Gordon, Reese, and Laron Brown III for the 4x100m relay, which should prove to be good competition for the Eagles. The quartet ran a time of 40.14 seconds for the second-fastest time in the conference and the 18th-fastest mark in the region.. Kent State also has the second-fastest 4x400m relay time, this time over two seconds behind the Eagles' lineup at 3:08.97. Dunlap and Brown make up half the 1600m relay team along with Matthew Tobin and Jacob Swords.
Swords returns as the incumbent 800m champion, but currently sits at sixth with a season-best time of 1:50.95 just behind freshman teammate Jared Fleming at 1:50.85. Kent State will also suffer a loss in the distance events after losing last year's Most Outstanding Track Performer Mike Heller, who won both the 5000m and 10,000m.
The Golden Flashes have a solid foundation of field eventers upon which they can rely to score points, led by two-time school record holder Matthias Tayala. Coming off an All-American season in the weight throw, Tayala has a solid reign over the MAC in the hammer throw with a distance of 72.11 meters/236 feet 7-inches. The junior has tacked on nearly 20 feet to his mark in the past year, throwing well beyond the 65.49 meters that won him the MAC championship title in 2013. Tayala currently ranks first in the NCAA East Region and third in the nation. Also hitting the regional charts is Reggie Jagers, who is second in the MAC in the discus throw at 59.19 meters/194 feet 2-inches. His mark is just two inches shy of CMU's Banagis and ranks 10th in the region as well as 18th nationally. Rounding out the throws group is another second-best mark in the MAC from Michael King. The sophomore sits well ahead of the rest of the field at 18.56 meters/60 feet 10.75-inches, but is far behind conference leader Jones, of Buffalo, by over four feet. Kent State also has a regionally-ranked pole vaulter in Jesse Oxley, whose mark of 5.28 meters/17 feet 3.75-inches is third in the MAC and 14th in the region.
MIAMI: The RedHawks join the MAC Championships only in the outdoor season, and look to match or improve upon a fourth-place showing in 2013. The squad lost eight of its 25 top-eight finishers, including 1500m champion Jarrod Eick, but returns Sam Spallinger and Peter Stefanski in hopes of repeating a conference title. Spallinger claimed the victory in the long jump with a distance of 7.43 meters at last year's meet and has done well this season, notching a season-best mark of 7.41 meters/24 feet 3.75-inches. However, the redshirt-senior has been bested throughout the 2014 campaign by sophomores Billian of Buffalo and Tate of Akron, both leaping 7.54 meters/24 feet 9-inches. In the high jump, Peter Stefanski currently leads the conference with a jump of 2.12 meters/6 feet 11.50-inches and will look to oust Akron's Durant for the crown in the event.
Miami has a pair of athletes that are expected to score well on the track in Jahquil Hargrove and David Wing. Hargrove is the only other MAC competitor to record a time under 47 seconds in the 400m besides EMU's EMU's Brown, as he holds the second spot in conference standings at 46.96 seconds. Wing should be in close contest with CMU's Ghena for the title in the 10,000m, holding less than a second over the Chippewa with his time of 30:07.56.
The RedHawks will also turn to Tyler Yee to score a handful of points in the javelin throw. The junior holds the second-best mark in the conference at 64.55 meters/211 feet 9-inches. Other members of the team have the potential to place well, such as Skyler Coburn in the 400m hurdles and Robert Stein in the shot put and hammer throw. Both Coburn and Stein have earned the third spot in MAC standings, as Coburn ran a season-best 52.15 in the 400H, while Stein threw for a distance of 18.03 meters/59 feet 2-inches to sit behind King of Kent State and nationally-ranked Jones of Buffalo.
The MAC Championships start Thursday, May 15, at 11:30 a.m. when the decathletes will begin their taxing 10-event schedule. The pole vault and hammer throw will be slated for the afternoon, with competition concluding at 9 p.m. with the 10,000m run. For more information, visit mac-sports.com.
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