The Eastern Michigan University men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in the Hillsdale-Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich., the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa., the Lyle Bennett Open in Mount Pleasant, Mich. and the West Chester University Open in West Chester, Pa.
At the Drake Relays, sophomore Victoria Voronko set another EMU record by finishing the 5,000-meter run in 16:22.05, which was good enough for second.
Voronko then broke her own EMU record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase crossing the finish line in 10:15.74.
“I’m really excited for her. She’s worked very hard to make it a great track season,” EMU women’s coach Sue Parks said. “She had a rough stretch coming off of mono last winter and trying to build her mileage back up over the summer and fall. After cross-country, I really challenged her to raise her level and she has responded well.”
In the 4×200-meter relay final, sophomore Danielle Clark and freshmen Aaliyah McKinney, Vanessa Clerveaux and Morgan Yeldon combined for a third place finish in 1:37.67.
“It was a nice performance by a young group,” Parks said. “They are still learning but it was a great experience for them to compete in a high level meet like Drake.” Freshman Alysha Newman placed third in the pole vault with a leap of 13 feet 03.50 inches (4.05 meters).
At the WCU Open, sophomore Ryan Brumfield won the long jump with a leap of 22 feet 0.3 inches (6.78 meters) and also took third place in the high jump at 6 feet 4.75 inches (1.95 meters).
At the Lyle Bennett Open, freshman Julius Collier finished second in the javelin with a toss of 164 feet 0.9 inches, which was good enough for a personal best.
Senior Terefe Ejigu was the lone Eagle who competed in the Penn Relays.
Ejigu competed in the 10,000-meter run and finished 16th with a time of 30:19.74, good enough for the second best time in the Mid-American Conference this season.
At the Hillsdale-Gina Relays, sophomore Cameron Trinh finished third in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 32:13.57.
In the decathlon finals, sophomore Solomon Ijah totaled 6,967 points to win the event.
Ijah’s 6,967 points is the fourth-highest decathlon score in EMU history.
Redshirt junior Nick Petro crossed the line fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:08.19.
Junior Kate Wolanin placed fourth in the high jump with a distance of 5 feet 03.75 inches (1.62 meters).
MACNotes From The Five Meets:
Both of the men’s and women’s teams were represented in five event sites over a three-day stretch.
The Penn and Drake relays are considered to be among some of the most of the prestigious events in track and field in the United States.
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