While you were on spring break, Eastern Michigan University sports had a full schedule. Below is a review of what you missed last week:
The women’s indoor track and field team was named champion of the Mid-American Conference.
The Eagles were crowned MAC champions Feb. 26 in Bowling Green, Ohio thanks to Ashlee Abraham breaking a 12-year-old 60-meter dash record with a time of 7.34 seconds. With top-five finishes from Asia Rawls and Shantavia Williams in the 400-meter dash, they won the 4×400-meter relay with teammates Naomi Andre and Dejaa Shearer
Lauren Quaintance and Beverly Elcock finshed first and second in the 800.
All this happened on day two of the MAC championship meet, helping to leap-frog the Eagles over Kent State, Akron and Bowling Green to take home first place, with a score of 118.
Western Michigan placed second with a score of 89, and rounding out the top three was Miami (Ohio) with 81. The Eagles will take part in NCAA track championships beginning March 11 in College Station, Texas. In the meantime the Eagles will head to South Bend, Ind., to kick off outdoor track and field season on Friday.
Men’s swimming
The Eagles were in Carbondale, Ill., for the MAC swimming and diving championships March 3-5, where they placed second with 685 points. Buffalo placed first, scoring 763.5. Behind EMU was Southern Illinois with 613.5.
Eight EMU swimmers were on the 2011 All-MAC teams, including Jacob Hanson, also named 2011 MAC swimmer of the year.
Softball
EMU softball (7-2) won six in a row, including a three-game sweep over St. Frances (Pa.) and double-header wins over Florida Gulf Coast on March 2.
The Eagles’ Jenna Ignowski was named MAC West pitcher of the week. Ignowski went 2-1 with a 0.79 ERA in 17 2/3 innings.
The Eagles have been in Fort Myers, Fla., since Feb. 25.
Tennis
Women’s tennis spent some time in Florida over spring break as well, leaving 1-1 thanks to a 5-2 victory over Florida Atlantic on March 2.
The team lost 7-0 to Florida International. The Eagles are 7-6 and haven’t played inside since the MAC tournament.
EMU will take on Ohio State on March 20 and then begin MAC play with Ball State five days later.
Gymnastics
EMU claimed victory over the Air Force Academy Falcons in their Feb. 19 match at Bowen Fieldhouse.
The Eagles didn’t fare as well in Colorado, where they dropped two in a row to the Falcons.
Friday’s meet couldn’t have been much closer, the Eagles lost 190.50-190.75.
Nikole Viltz finished first on the balance beam, with a score of 9.750.
Men’s track
The Eagles took third at the MAC championships Feb. 25-26, scoring a 92. Sophomore Terefe Ejigu placed first in the 5,000 and the mile. Fellow sophomore runner Vanier Joseph was named “most outstanding performer,” running for a MAC-best 7.75 in the 60-meter hurdles.
Akron placed first in the meet with 161 points, its first MAC title, and Kent State claimed second with 144 points.
- Women’s swimming*
The Eagles took fourth place in the MAC swimming and diving championships on Feb. 26 with 385 points.
The Eagles named to first team All-MAC include Briana Emig, Sarah Kowalski and Lesley Vizurrga. Amanda Kiefer made second team All-MAC and Buck Smith, the Eagles diving coach, was named to his second consecutive coach-of-the-year honors.
*Wrestling *
Wrestling was at MAC Championships this past weekend. Sunday was the final day of competition, for results Check out www.easternecho.com.
