Men's Track And Field Open Season at GVSU

ALLENDALE, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University men's track and field team opens its 2018-19 indoor season at the GVSU Holiday Open in Allendale, Mich, Friday, Dec. 7.

Three-time MAC Coach of the year John Goodridge's squad looks to key returners from the 2017-18 squad to continue their streak of success, after winning both the MAC Indoor and Outdoor Track Championships last season. Last year, Eastern had 12 All-MAC honorees, along with Owen Day (Ottawa, Ontario- International School of Dusseldorf) taking home Indoor Freshman of the Year and a share of co-Most Valuable Performer, split with then-Eagles-redshirt-senior Nick Raymond. Take a look below for a quick breakdown of each event group, as well as some of the top returners.

Sprints
The Green and White will lean on senior Tyler Underwood (Clinton, Mich.-Clinton) and sophomore Owen Richardson (Basingstoke, England) to lead a talented sprints squad to a successful season. Underwood, a 2018 First Team All-MAC honoree, closed out his junior season with a strong MAC Indoor Championship performance, running a leg in the first-place 4x400 relay team, while also placing fourth in the 400m with a time of 48.77. Richardson, a fellow First Team All-MAC honoree, earned the bronze medal in the 400m and a fifth-place finish at the 2018 MAC Championships, while running a leg in the first-place 4x400 relay team.

Joining the seniors to steer the sprints group are juniors Terrell Posada (Naples, Fla.-Naples High), Joshuwa Holloman (Auburn Hills, Mich.-Avondale) and Sean Beckom II (Saginaw, Mich.-Heritage). Rounding out the sprints force are sophomore Treston White (Lockport, N.Y.-Lockport), as well as freshman Charlie Young (Grand Haven, Mich.-Grand Haven).

Mid-Distance
EMU will have redshirt senior Melika Ghali (Toronto, Canada-Jarvis Collegiate Institute), juniors Roderic Wilson (Atlanta, Ga.-Blanche Ely) and Dan Kuhn (Erie, Pa.-Harbor Creek), and sophomore White each running in the middle-distance events. Ghali, a graduate transfer from Boise State University, looks to make an immediate impact in his lone season in the Green and White, ready to add his speed to the Eagles' middle-distance runners. The Toronto, Canada native joins EMU after posting career-bests of 3:50.61 in the 500m and 14:37.88 in the 5000m at Boise State.

Distance
Coming off the Eagles' success of last year, Day will be joined by a plethora of talent to continue EMU's tradition of excellence in distance events. The loss of last year's Co-MVP Nick Raymond will be felt, but the Eagles bring in strong reinforcements in redshirt sophomore Austin Wicker (Pinckney, Mich.-Pinckney), redshirt freshman Phoenix Myers (Wattsburg, Pa.-Seneca), and freshman Baldvin Magnusson (Hull, England-Hull University).
Additionally, sophomores Solomon Costa (Gahanna, Ohio-Gahanna Lincoln), Hayelom Fitsum (Denver, Colo.-Denver School of Science and Technology), Derek Jones (Erie, Pa.-Cathedral Preparatory), and redshirt freshman Ian Cook (Worthington, Ohio-Thomas Worthington) all return with experience to add depth for the Green and White.

In addition to Magnusson, the Eagles added nine freshmen distance runners to the squad, including Ronald Brandal (Huron, Ohio-Huron), Luke Brown (Thornville, Ohio-Sheridan), Chris Devaney (New Plymouth, New Zealand-New Plymouth), Joseph Ingram (Cincinnati, Ohio-Anderson), Andy Payne (Worthington, Ohio-Thomas Worthington), Noah Perrin (Akron, Ohio-Woodridge), Kalani Sheridan (Nelson, New Zealand-Nayland College), Craig Thompson (South Haven, Mich.-South Haven), and Eddie Zuercher (Rocky River, Ohio-Rocky River).

Hurdles
Seniors Elijah Barber (Columbus, Ohio-Eastmoor Academy) and Frank Douglas (Mansfield, Ohio-Madison Comprehensive) accompany juniors Devonte Findlay (Lauderhill, Fla.-Blanche Ely) and Ivan Suazo (Brooklyn, N.Y.-Westland) to lead the hurdles group. All three of the Eagles enter the 2018-19 season after strong 2017-18 campaigns, as Findlay took second in the 60H with a time of 8.01 at the indoor conference championships, while Douglas and Suazo finished right behind the Lauderhill, Fla. native, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. Barber set career-best times in both the 400m and 600m sprints during the indoor season, in addition to claiming fifth in the 400H at the 2018 MAC Outdoor Championship.
Freshmen Alec Frymier (Hilliard, Ohio-Hilliard Bradley), Payne Wylie (Saskatchewan, Canada-Colonsay School), and Kendaruis Coward (Hallandale Beach, Fla.-Hallandale) will add depth to the Eagles already strong hurdles prospects for the upcoming campaign.

Jumps
The senior triad of Cameron Hart (Columbus, Ohio-Bishop Hartley), Nick Herbert (Portage, Mich.-Portage Northern), and Micah Peters (York, Ontario-Vaughn Road Academy) will lead Eastern Michigan's line alongside junior Baboucar Sallah-Mohammad (Arlington, Va.-Fishburne Military). Hart's 2017-18 season included competing in seven meets, earning five top-three finishes, while Herbert saw action in five meets for the Eagles while capturing bronze in the triple jump at the MAC Indoor Championships. Peters' successes in his junior campaign included a fourth-place finish in the triple jump at the league's championship, as well as top-three finishes at both the Hillsdale "Wide-Track" Classic and the SVSU "Doug Hansen" Open.
The trio will gain freshman Teck Kirkpatrick (Crooksville, Ohio-Crooksville) in their quest for a 16th MAC indoor championship.

Pole Vault
Junior Colin Etchen (Edgerton, Ohio-Edgerton) stands in command of the pole vault group as the primary Eagle performing in the event. The Edgerton, Ohio native competed in seven meets for the Eagles with five top-three finishes, while finishing sixth in the pole vault at the MAC Indoor Championships, earning a NCAA preliminary qualifying bid. Additionally, the then-sophomore set his career-best height at the 2018 Wolverine Invitational with a vault of 5.10m.
Etchen will be aided by the efforts of Alex Jacobs (Dublin, Ohio-Dublin Jerome), who last year earned a third-place finish in pole vault at the SVSU "Doug Hansen" Open and a fourth-place finish in the same event at the SVSU "Jet's Pizza" Invitational.

Throws
Led by a foursome of senior throwers, the Eagles look to build on last year's throwing efforts with veteran leadership and experience on their side.

Redshirt senior Zach Purcilly (Troy, Mich. - Avondale) and seniors Zach Harkey (Huron, Ohio- Huron), Derek Ziegenfuss (Allentown, Pa. – Parkland) and Mike Hierholzer (Medina, Ohio- Medina) are the seniors leading the throws squad, each with experience in the indoor events. Purcilly comes off a season where he marked his personal-best record in the shotput, clearing 17.29m, while placing sixth at the MAC Championships with a throw of 16.26m. Ziegenfuss did not compete last indoor season, but had a prolific outdoor season, as he qualified to the NCAA East Regionals in the javelin throw, after winning bronze in the event at the MAC Outdoor Championships. The seniors will be joined by sophomore Newlyn Stephenson (Gary, Ind.-Thea Bowman Leadership Academy), who competed in seven meets for the Eagles in the 2017-18 season, including the 2018 MAC Indoor Championships, placing ninth in the weight throw. The quad will add two newcomers to complement their accomplished group in freshmen Travis Burton (Bainbridge, Ohio-Paint Valley) and Dominic Valdes (Brighton, Mich.-Brighton).
Senior Ziegenfuss will be joined by freshman Garett Wade (Rio Rancho, N.M.-V. Sue Cleveland) to complete EMU's javelin dyad.

Multis
Jacobs and sophomore Skyler Lester (Marietta, Ga.-Marietta) represent the returners to the Eagles' multis group. Jacobs looks to cap off his Eastern career after appearing in four meets for EMU in the 2017-18 season, earning top-four finishes in two meets. Lester comes into the season after a terrific freshman campaign, where he placed 10th in the high jump in his first MAC Championship appearance while marking his personal-record in the high jump, clearing a height of 2.05m for a second-place finish at the Michigan Silverston Invitational.

The meet at Kelly Family Turf Building is scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m. with the high jump event, followed by more field and running events at 3 p.m. Live results of the meet will be available on the web here.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sean Beckom II

Travis Burton

Solomon Costa

Kendaruis Coward

Owen Day

Frank Douglas

Colin Etchen

Hayelom Fitsum

Alec Frymier

Melika Ghali

Zach Harkey

Cameron Hart

Nick Herbert

Mike Hierholzer

Joshuwa Holloman

Alex Jacobs

Derek Jones

Dan Kuhn

Skyler Lester

Baldvin Magnusson

Phoenix Myers

Terrell Posada

Zach Purcilly

Nick Raymond

Owen Richardson

Baboucar Sallah-Mohammed

Newlyn Stephenson

Ivan Suazo

Tyler Underwood

Tyler Underwood

Dominic Valdes

Treston White

Roderic Wilson

Payne Wylie

Charlie Young

Derek Ziegenfuss

Eastern Michigan Athletics