Men's Track and Field Heads to CMU for Jack Skoog Open

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's track and field team makes the trip to Mount Pleasant, Mich. to compete in the Jack Skoog Open hosted by Central Michigan University Friday, Jan. 31 inside the Jack Skoog Indoor Track.

EMU makes its first visit to CMU since finishing in second place at the 2015 Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships with a team score of 142.50 points, Feb. 27-28. The Eagles and Chippewas faced off earlier that season in a dual meet which ended in a 74-74 tie, Jan. 30, 2015.

The Eagles return to competition after setting several meet records at the Can-Am International at Bob Parks Track inside Bowen Field House. Redshirt junior Baboucar Sallah-Mohammed (Arlington, Va.-Fishburne Military) was the only member of EMU's roster to net a pair of individual titles, matched his personal-best when he broke the meet's long jump record held by Cameron Hart with a leap of 7.42 meters, before capturing the triple jump title with a 15.08-meter performance.

From there, junior Chukwusom Enekwechi (Valley Stream, N.Y.-Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences (Monroe College)) was the clear winner in the shot put with a heave of 18.66 meters, shattering the mark of 16.82 that former Eagle Zach Purcillly posted during last season's Can-Am International, Jan. 26, 2019. Elsewhere, junior Skyler Lester (Marietta, Ga.-Marietta) tied for the meet record in the high jump at 2.04 meters, while freshman Kappa Bedoui (Doha, Qatar-Aspire Academy) and redshirt senior Taige Bryant (Edmond, Okla.-Edmond Memorial) both eclipsed the 20-meter mark in the weight throw to finish in third and fourth place, respectively.

Three Eagles ranked among the top-four in the mile, as sophomore Baldvin Magnusson (Akureyri, Iceland-Hull University) set a new meet record in the event with the winning time of 4:11.11, while junior Solomon Costa (Gahanna, Ohio-Gahanna Lincoln) placed second at 4:16.31 and redshirt freshman Andy Payne (Worthington, Ohio-Thomas Worthington) crossed the finish in fourth with a mark of 4:21.09. Later in the afternoon, junior Owen Day (Ottawa, Ontario-International School of Dusseldorf) bested his own meet record in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:52.00, with senior Roderic Wilson (Atlanta, Ga.-Blanche Ely) coming in second spot with a mark of 1:53.80. In the sprints, junior Owen Richardson (Basingstoke, England-The Costello School) achieved a meet record with a 200-meter sprint time of 21.71 seconds, before the 4x400-meter relay team finished in first place with a time of 3:22.38. Additionally, redshirt junior Devonte Findlay (Lauderhill, Fla.-Blanche Ely) became the new record-holder in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.95 seconds, breaking the 8.11-second clip held by teammate Payne Wylie (Saskatchewan, Canada-Colonsay School).

Field events at the Jack Skoog Open are scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m., while running events are expected to start at 5 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Kappa Bedoui

Taige Bryant

Solomon Costa

Owen Day

Chukwusom Enekwechi

Devonte Findlay

Skyler Lester

Baldvin Magnusson

Andy Payne

Owen Richardson

Baboucar Sallah-Mohammed

Roderic Wilson

Payne Wylie

Eastern Michigan Athletics