Eastern Michigan Athletics
Friday, May 15
Muncie, Ind.
All Day
Eastern Michigan University
at
MAC Outdoor Championships
Photo by: EMU Athletics/Chloe Smith
Ijah and Selvig Go 1-2 in Decathlon, EMU Tied with Akron for Lead
5/15/2015 9:11:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Willy Fink claims 3000m steeplechase title on second day of MAC Championships
Complete Results
Photo Gallery
MUNCIE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com)—At the end of the second day of competition, Eastern Michigan University's men's track and field team was able to hop Miami and tie Akron for the lead at the 2015 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships with 76 points, as both squads hold a wide margin over the rest of the field followed by Kent State (33), Miami (32), Buffalo (32), and Central Michigan (21).
Friday marked the wrap-up of the decathlon, in which the duo of Solomon Ijah (Murrieta, Calif.-Murrieta Valley) and Levi Selvig (Flushing, Mich.-Flushing Community) made Eastern history by going 1-2 in the grueling 10-event slate. Ijah bested his own EMU record with 7,862 points, which also broke the MAC record by three points and bumped the redshirt-junior up to the second-best mark in the NCAA this year. Selvig also notched a personal record overall with 7,066 points, which is the fifth-best score by an Eagle.
Ijah picked up three individual event wins throughout the day, setting personal records in three while Selvig had a quartet of career marks with one event win. In the first event of the day, Ijah cruised to first in the 110m hurdles in 14.38 seconds, while Selvig took third in 14.92 seconds. Moving on to the discus, Selvig finished first overall with a two-foot improvement at 42.62 meters/139 feet 10-inches, followed closely by Ijah's launch of 42.09 meters/138 feet 1-inch for second. Ijah was the next to score a personal best of the two, winning the pole vault at 4.68 meters/15 feet 4.25-inches, and Selvig tied for third at 4.28 meters/14 feet 0.50-inches. In the javelin, Ijah notched his final individual win of the day with a toss of 59.98 meters/196 feet 9-inches, while Selvig had a personal-best throw of 44.63 meters/146 feet 5-inches for fifth. Going into the 1500m run, Ijah had secured his overall victory but Selvig had a narrow 50-point edge on Akron's Quentin Cieslinski. The Zip won the 1500m, but was not able to keep Selvig far enough to overtake the silver position, as Selvig took second in a career-best 4:47.37 to stave off Cieslinksi by 32 points and Ijah finished third in 4:52.55.
Ijah also competed in one of the many preliminary heats of the day, securing a position in tomorrow's final in the 110m hurdles after clocking a 14.52 for sixth. Pacing the Green and White and earning the fourth seed into the championship heat was Bryce Lindsey (New Middletown, Ohio-Fairfield Senior) in 14.42 seconds. Lindsey later took on the 400m hurdles prelims, finishing 14th in 54.96 seconds. Two Eagles earned a spot in the finals tomorrow, led by Jeff Elam (Latrobe, Pa.-Greater Latrobe Senior) in 53.80 seconds for the fourth seed while Mark Cooke (Edison, N.J.-John P. Stevens) set a personal best of 54.02 seconds to qualify in the eighth spot.
The Green and White had strong performances across the board in the sprints, qualifying all three competitors apiece in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, and will also have the complete trio running in the 800m. In the 100m, Cameron Bolton (Missouri City, Texas-Hightower) and Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.-George Wythe) posted identical personal records of 10.53 seconds to gain entry into the championship heat, and Pedro Delgado (Southfield, Mich.-Brother Rice) clocked a 10.62 for the ninth seed. Bolton and Snead also qualified in the 200m, with Snead taking the fifth seed in a career-best 21.29 seconds while Bolton crossed the line in 21.36 seconds. Also qualifying was Tyler Brown (Findlay, Ohio-Findlay) in 21.41 seconds, who also earned the top seed in the 400m dash after cruising in at 47.02 seconds. Joining Brown tomorrow in the 400m will be Jason Ervin (Farmington Hills, Mich.-Farmington), who took seventh in 47.67 seconds, and Matthew Williams (Moreno Valley, Calif.-Vista del Lago) in the 10th spot after finishing in 48.01 seconds.
Scott Bradley (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) led the Eagles in the 800m prelims, earning the sixth seed in 1:55.27 and was closely followed by Mason Waynes (Kenosha, Wis.-Bradford) in 1:55.31. Freshman Stephen Sparks (Lancaster, Ohio-Lancaster) claimed the last qualifying spot by having one of the fastest two remaining times outside of the top-four in the two heats, crossing the line in 1:55.15.
Eastern had three events contested on the field in addition to the large amount of action on the track. The only medal winner for the Green and White was Donald Scott (Apopka, Fla.-Apopka), who finished third in the long jump at 7.53 meters/24 feet 8.50-inches. Brown competed alongside Scott, notching a career-best jump of 7.37 meters/24 feet 2.25-inches to finish fifth.
Keith Williams (Sherman, Ill.-Williamsville) led the Eagles in both of the throws for the day. The redshirt-junior first took fourth in the hammer throw with a launch of 59.57 meters/195 feet 5-inches before notching a career mark in the shot put at 17.63 meters/57 feet 10.25-inches, which is the sixth-farthest throw in EMU history. Also cracking the EMU top-10 was Andrew Wentz (Napoleon, Ohio-Napoleon), who placed seventh in the hammer throw with a mark of 54.43 meters/178 feet 7-inches, good for eighth all-time. Rounding out the hammer group was Elijah Albert-Grayer (Canton, Mich.-Salem) with a career mark of 50.35 meters/165 feet 2-inches. In the shot put, Travis Harris (Walled Lake, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) took seventh after throwing 17.04 meters/55 feet 11-inches, and Quinn Levering (Caledonia, Ohio-River Valley) finished ninth with a personal best of 16.39 meters/53 feet 9.25-inches.
The Eagles ended the day with a victory and were able to tie Akron with a stellar team effort in the 3000m steeplechase. After dropping the 10,000m last night, Willy Fink (Maumee, Ohio-Maumee) tore off to pace the pack early in the race and never looked back as he secured his first steeplechase crown by nearly 20 seconds over reigning MAC champion Daniel Zupan of Akron. Fink crossed the line in 8:56.40, and was followed by Hlynur Andresson (Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland-Mountain Ridge (Alderson Broaddus)) in a personal-best 9:20.44 for fourth while Steve Hammond (Warsaw, Ohio-River View (Wingate)) swept in for fifth in 9:23.52.
The Eagles will conclude the MAC Championships tomorrow, May 16, beginning with the discus throw and high jump at 11 a.m. At 1:00 p.m., the 4x400m relay will start off action on the track, which will continue until the 4x400m relay at 4:40 p.m. Live results are provided through finishtiming.com.
EMU Individual Results (* signifies a personal best, # is an EMU record, M is a MAC record)
Photo Gallery
MUNCIE, Ind. (EMUEagles.com)—At the end of the second day of competition, Eastern Michigan University's men's track and field team was able to hop Miami and tie Akron for the lead at the 2015 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships with 76 points, as both squads hold a wide margin over the rest of the field followed by Kent State (33), Miami (32), Buffalo (32), and Central Michigan (21).
Friday marked the wrap-up of the decathlon, in which the duo of Solomon Ijah (Murrieta, Calif.-Murrieta Valley) and Levi Selvig (Flushing, Mich.-Flushing Community) made Eastern history by going 1-2 in the grueling 10-event slate. Ijah bested his own EMU record with 7,862 points, which also broke the MAC record by three points and bumped the redshirt-junior up to the second-best mark in the NCAA this year. Selvig also notched a personal record overall with 7,066 points, which is the fifth-best score by an Eagle.
Ijah picked up three individual event wins throughout the day, setting personal records in three while Selvig had a quartet of career marks with one event win. In the first event of the day, Ijah cruised to first in the 110m hurdles in 14.38 seconds, while Selvig took third in 14.92 seconds. Moving on to the discus, Selvig finished first overall with a two-foot improvement at 42.62 meters/139 feet 10-inches, followed closely by Ijah's launch of 42.09 meters/138 feet 1-inch for second. Ijah was the next to score a personal best of the two, winning the pole vault at 4.68 meters/15 feet 4.25-inches, and Selvig tied for third at 4.28 meters/14 feet 0.50-inches. In the javelin, Ijah notched his final individual win of the day with a toss of 59.98 meters/196 feet 9-inches, while Selvig had a personal-best throw of 44.63 meters/146 feet 5-inches for fifth. Going into the 1500m run, Ijah had secured his overall victory but Selvig had a narrow 50-point edge on Akron's Quentin Cieslinski. The Zip won the 1500m, but was not able to keep Selvig far enough to overtake the silver position, as Selvig took second in a career-best 4:47.37 to stave off Cieslinksi by 32 points and Ijah finished third in 4:52.55.
Ijah also competed in one of the many preliminary heats of the day, securing a position in tomorrow's final in the 110m hurdles after clocking a 14.52 for sixth. Pacing the Green and White and earning the fourth seed into the championship heat was Bryce Lindsey (New Middletown, Ohio-Fairfield Senior) in 14.42 seconds. Lindsey later took on the 400m hurdles prelims, finishing 14th in 54.96 seconds. Two Eagles earned a spot in the finals tomorrow, led by Jeff Elam (Latrobe, Pa.-Greater Latrobe Senior) in 53.80 seconds for the fourth seed while Mark Cooke (Edison, N.J.-John P. Stevens) set a personal best of 54.02 seconds to qualify in the eighth spot.
The Green and White had strong performances across the board in the sprints, qualifying all three competitors apiece in the 100m, 200m, and 400m, and will also have the complete trio running in the 800m. In the 100m, Cameron Bolton (Missouri City, Texas-Hightower) and Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.-George Wythe) posted identical personal records of 10.53 seconds to gain entry into the championship heat, and Pedro Delgado (Southfield, Mich.-Brother Rice) clocked a 10.62 for the ninth seed. Bolton and Snead also qualified in the 200m, with Snead taking the fifth seed in a career-best 21.29 seconds while Bolton crossed the line in 21.36 seconds. Also qualifying was Tyler Brown (Findlay, Ohio-Findlay) in 21.41 seconds, who also earned the top seed in the 400m dash after cruising in at 47.02 seconds. Joining Brown tomorrow in the 400m will be Jason Ervin (Farmington Hills, Mich.-Farmington), who took seventh in 47.67 seconds, and Matthew Williams (Moreno Valley, Calif.-Vista del Lago) in the 10th spot after finishing in 48.01 seconds.
Scott Bradley (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) led the Eagles in the 800m prelims, earning the sixth seed in 1:55.27 and was closely followed by Mason Waynes (Kenosha, Wis.-Bradford) in 1:55.31. Freshman Stephen Sparks (Lancaster, Ohio-Lancaster) claimed the last qualifying spot by having one of the fastest two remaining times outside of the top-four in the two heats, crossing the line in 1:55.15.
Eastern had three events contested on the field in addition to the large amount of action on the track. The only medal winner for the Green and White was Donald Scott (Apopka, Fla.-Apopka), who finished third in the long jump at 7.53 meters/24 feet 8.50-inches. Brown competed alongside Scott, notching a career-best jump of 7.37 meters/24 feet 2.25-inches to finish fifth.
Keith Williams (Sherman, Ill.-Williamsville) led the Eagles in both of the throws for the day. The redshirt-junior first took fourth in the hammer throw with a launch of 59.57 meters/195 feet 5-inches before notching a career mark in the shot put at 17.63 meters/57 feet 10.25-inches, which is the sixth-farthest throw in EMU history. Also cracking the EMU top-10 was Andrew Wentz (Napoleon, Ohio-Napoleon), who placed seventh in the hammer throw with a mark of 54.43 meters/178 feet 7-inches, good for eighth all-time. Rounding out the hammer group was Elijah Albert-Grayer (Canton, Mich.-Salem) with a career mark of 50.35 meters/165 feet 2-inches. In the shot put, Travis Harris (Walled Lake, Mich.-Walled Lake Northern) took seventh after throwing 17.04 meters/55 feet 11-inches, and Quinn Levering (Caledonia, Ohio-River Valley) finished ninth with a personal best of 16.39 meters/53 feet 9.25-inches.
The Eagles ended the day with a victory and were able to tie Akron with a stellar team effort in the 3000m steeplechase. After dropping the 10,000m last night, Willy Fink (Maumee, Ohio-Maumee) tore off to pace the pack early in the race and never looked back as he secured his first steeplechase crown by nearly 20 seconds over reigning MAC champion Daniel Zupan of Akron. Fink crossed the line in 8:56.40, and was followed by Hlynur Andresson (Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland-Mountain Ridge (Alderson Broaddus)) in a personal-best 9:20.44 for fourth while Steve Hammond (Warsaw, Ohio-River View (Wingate)) swept in for fifth in 9:23.52.
The Eagles will conclude the MAC Championships tomorrow, May 16, beginning with the discus throw and high jump at 11 a.m. At 1:00 p.m., the 4x400m relay will start off action on the track, which will continue until the 4x400m relay at 4:40 p.m. Live results are provided through finishtiming.com.
EMU Individual Results (* signifies a personal best, # is an EMU record, M is a MAC record)
| Mark | Points | |
| Decathlon 110m Hurdles | ||
| 1. Ijah, Solomon | 14.38* | 926 |
| 3. Selvig, Levi | 14.92 | 859 |
| Decathlon Discus | ||
| 1. Selvig, Levi | 42.62m/139-10* | 718 |
| 2. Ijah, Solomon | 42.09m/138-01 | 707 |
| Decathlon Pole Vault | ||
| 1. Ijah, Solomon | 4.68m/15-04.25* | 813 |
| 3. Selvig, Levi | 4.28m/14-00.50 | 696 |
| Decathlon Javelin | ||
| 1. Ijah, Solomon | 59.98m/196-09 | 738 |
| 5. Selvig, Levi | 44.63m/146-05* | 510 |
| Decathlon 1500m | ||
| 2. Selvig, Levi | 4:47.37* | 635 |
| 3. Ijah, Solomon | 4:52.55 | 603 |
| Decathlon Final | ||
| 1. Ijah, Solomon | 7862*#M | |
| 2. Selvig, Levi | 7066 | |
| 100m Dash Prelims | ||
| 3. Bolton, Cameron | 10.53*q | |
| 4. Snead, Kevin | 10.53*q | |
| 9. Delgado, Pedro | 10.62q | |
| 110m Hurdles Prelims | ||
| 4. Lindsey, Bryce | 14.42q | |
| 6. Ijah, Solomon | 14.52q | |
| 200m Dash Prelims | ||
| 5. Snead, Kevin | 21.29*q | |
| 7. Bolton, Cameron | 21.36q | |
| 9. Brown, Tyler | 21.41q | |
| 400m Dash Prelims | ||
| 1. Brown, Tyler | 47.02q | |
| 7. Ervin, Jason | 47.67q | |
| 10. Williams, Matthew | 48.01q | |
| 400m Hurdles Prelims | ||
| 4. Elam, Jeff | 53.80q | |
| 8. Cooke, Mark | 54.02*q | |
| 14. Lindsey, Bryce | 54.96 | |
| 800m Run Prelims | ||
| 6. Bradley, Scott | 1:55.27q | |
| 8. Waynes, Mason | 1:55.31q | |
| 10. Sparks, Stephen | 1:55.15q | |
| 3000m Steeplechase | ||
| 1. Fink, Willy | 8:56.40 | |
| 4. Andresson, Hlynur | 9:20.44* | |
| 5. Hammond, Steve | 9:23.52 | |
| Long Jump | ||
| 3. Scott, Donald | 7.53m/24-08.50 | |
| 5. Brown, Tyler | J7.37m/24-02.25* | |
| Shot Put | ||
| 5. Williams, Keith | 17.63m/57-10.25* | |
| 7. Harris, Travis | 17.04m/55-11.00 | |
| 9. Levering, Quinn | 16.39m/53-09.25* | |
| Hammer Throw | ||
| 4. Williams, Keith | 59.57m/195-05 | |
| 7. Wentz, Andrew | 54.43m/178-07* | |
| 9. Albert-Grayer, Elijah | 50.35m/165-02* | |
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