Women’s Track & Field
Over the weekend, Eastern Michigan University’s women’s track and field team split up to compete in two different parts of the country. The Eagles took part in four events total. Three of the events took place at the Jesse Owens Track Classic in Columbus, Ohio and the other event took place at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
The competition began at the Jesse Owens Classic on Friday for the Green and White. In the first event of the night the senior pair of Sarah Chauchard and Pauline Chiariglione took part in the javelin throw, finishing 15th and 20th, respectively. Chauchard threw for a distance of 33.36 meters/109 feet 5-inches, while Chiariglione achieved a distance of 30.97 meters/101 feet 7-inches.
On the track in Columbus, the green and white was represented by four Eagles. Juniors Marina Manjon-Rivadulla and Taylor Knoll took part in the 1500m and finished just over one-fifth of a second apart as Manjon-Rivadulla finished with a time of 4:36.11 and Knoll came in at 4:36.32.
Senior co-captain Kayla Pfund was the lone Eagle to compete in the 3000m steeplechase, finishing with a time of 11:10.58.
The Eagles continued to show improvement on Saturday. The team witnessed a pair of victories on the field as senior Kate Wolanin and sophomore Ellie Braidic claimed titles in both the high jump and pole vault respectively.
Wolanin cleared a height of 1.70 meters/ 5 feet 7.00-inches to grab her second winning finish of the outdoor season. With this victory, Wolanin now has a top-three finish in every meet of the outdoor season thus far.
“Kate continues to perform consistently. That is going to pay off for her when the big meets roll around,” EMU coach Sue Parks said..”,said Coach Sue Parks.
Braidic also had her share of success as her victory earned her a spot in the four-meter club in the pole vault. The sophomore cleared 4.00 meters/13 feet 1.50-inches to become just the fifth Eagle in EMU history to clear four meters in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault. With this mark, Braidic has qualified for the 2014 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships, along with her teammate freshman Natalie Uy who jumped 3.70 meters/12 ft 1.50-inches to finish in ninth place.
“Ellie is definitely having a breakthrough year. She is starting to figure out what she is capable of,” Parks said,.”, said Parks.
The Green and White were represented by two more members on the field as junior Lydia Gomez-Diaz competed in the hammer throw and took 12th place with a throw of 53.52meters/175 feet 7-inches. In the triple jump, sophomore Makeda DeBardelaben placed in the top-10 after bounding 11.32 meters/37 feet 1.75-inches.
The action on the track started for the Eagles with the 4×100m relay, in which the team composed of sophomores Morgan Yeadon, Iesha Hardiman, Aaliyah McKinney, and junior Danielle Clark finished with a time of 46.88, which was good for a fourth place finish. Each of the Eagles then went on to compete in individual events in the meet.
Hardiman ran in the 400m dash and finished with a time of 57.73 for 13th place in the event. The pair of McKinney and Clark took part in the 100m dash and finished in 13th and 15th, respectively.
Yeadon paced Wolanin in the 200m and finished in 17th. The four Eagles then regrouped to compete in the 4×400m relay crossing the line at 3:52.59 which was good for a sixth-place finish.
In the 800m run, the Eagle pair of Manjon-Rivadulla and sophomore Rebecca Quaintance kept pace with each other to take 24th and 26th in 2:17.58 and 2:18.76, respectively. Lastly, four multi-eventers competed in the 10m hurdles, paced by Chauchard who finished in 11th place with a time of 14.28.
In a late night event on the other side of the country the lone eagle junior Victoria Voronko competed in the 5000m Olympic Development run. She finished in 13th with a time of 16:24.40, which was just off of her personal-best mark in the event. With that time,Voronko finished nearly a minute under the MAC qualifying standard.
“We need to continue to improve each week. The MAC meet is only three weeks away and we need to set ourselves up to perform the best that we can as a team,” Parks said.”
The Eagles will again split up next weekend as part of the team will head to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays and others will travel to Hillsdale, MI for the Hillsdale Gina Relays. Competition at these meets will take place from April 24-26.
Men’s Track & Field
The EMU men’s track and field team competed in two separate meets this past weekend. On Friday, April 18 a duo of Eagles headed west for the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., while a small group of Eagles competed in the first rotation of the Jesse Owens Track Classic in Columbus, Ohio.
The action started for the Eagles on the west coast as senior Grzegorz Kalinowski and freshman Tyler Brown competed in the Mt. SAC Relays. Kalinowski took part in the 1500m run, finishing in 3:46.13, which was good for fourth place before Brown had a breakout performance on the track.
The rookie Eagle took part in the 400m and finished with a time of 46.02, which is the fastest time in the Mid-American Conference by nearly a second and stands as the 11th best time in the nation while going down as the fourth fastest time in EMU history.
Brown’s mark also makes him the current world leader for the junior (U20) division. Brown fin-ished out his Mt. SAC appearance by competing in the 200m finishing with a time of 21.06, which was good for ninth place and also helped him punch a ticket to the 2014 Outdoor MAC championship for both the 200m and 400m.
Tyler Brown was named the MAC Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week.
This is the first time Brown has received this honor in his career and the third time during the 2013-14 track season that an Eagle has received a weekly recognition.
“Tyler Brown’s 400 meter result at Mt SAC is certainly very impressive, being the current fastest time in the MAC, #4 on the EMU All-Time list but also the current fastest junior (under age 20) time in the world,” Coach John Goodridge said. “Tyler has trained hard and he and his coach, Sterling Roberts, were justly rewarded.”
Back across the country, the Eagles took part in three events at Ohio State University. On the field junior Solomon Ijah competed in the javelin throw and took fifth with a distance of 194 feet 2-inches, a mark that qualified the junior for the MAC championship.
On the track, four out of the five Eagles competing were able to achieve a MAC qualifying standard. The trio of redshirt junior Harry Dixon, sophomore Willy Fink, and redshirt junior Warren Witchell all ran in the 5000m run and qualified for the conference meet. The trio was led by Dixon who had a career-best time of 14:12.91 to claim a seventh place finish.
Fink followed closely behind finishing in eighth place, while Witchell anchored the group with a 10th place finish. In the final event of the night, redshirt junior Daryl Smith ran in the 3000m steeplechase and finished with a time of 3:51.27 which was good for eighth place.
The team wrapped up their weekend of competition with the final day of the Jesse Owens Track Classic on Saturday. The squad saw the bulk of its success on the field as the team earned two individual victories and two runner-up finishes. Max Babits continued his strong senior cam-paign by winning the pole vault with a clearance of 5.30 meters/ 17 feet 4.50-inches, which was just two inches off both his personal and an EMU school record.
Senior Aaron Benton also came close to matching a personal best when he won the high jump with a height of 2.09 meters/6 feet 10.25 inches, which was just a half-inch away from his best mark. Coming in behind Benton was sophomore James O’Shea who jumped 2.06 meters/6 feet 9.00 inches.
In the triple jump the Eagles took a second place finish as freshman Javion Lee jumped 14.89 meters/ 48 feet 10.25-inches. With his jump Lee set a personal-best and qualified for the 2015 MAC Outdoor Championship.
Three more events took place on the field as the Green and White competed in the long jump, hammer throw, and shot put. Ijah took part in the long jump going 6.53 meters/21 feet 5.25-inches, which was good for 16th place.
In the hammer throw junior Keith Williams threw 56.83 meters/186 feet 5-inches which was good for 18th place, while fellow Eagle sophomore Anthony Jones set a personal record at 54.81 meters/179 feet 10-inches for a 22nd place finish. With their finishes the pair qualified for the MAC Championship.
Freshman Quinn Levering paced the Eagles in the shot put finishing in 15th place with a throw of 16.07-meters/ 52 feet 8.75-inches.
On the track, junior Cameron Bolton, sophomore Jeff Elam, senior Christ Scott, and sophomore Wayne Blanchard competed in the 4×100m to open up the events for the Green and White harri-ers. The group finished in fourth with a time of 41.01. Scott went on to compete in the 100m dash and took third with a time of 10.75, pacing a personal-best 10.95-second finish for Blanchard.
The pair then competed again in the 200m with Scott leading the way once more with 21.67 a finish which was good for ninth as Blanchard finished in 33rd but set another personal record with a time of 22.22 seconds.
Sophomore Mason Waynes competed in the 400m and set a personal record with a time of 49.12, which earned him a 12th place finish. Sophomore Jason Ervin finished right behind with a time of 49.28. In the mid-distance 800m run sophomore Scott Bradley took 15th place with a time of 1:54.53.
Elam competed in the 400m hurdles and finished in eighth with a time of 52.95, which qualifies him for the MAC meet. The pair of Ijah and junior Levi Selvig competed in the 110m hurdles and recorded times of 14.98 and 15.49, respectively. The meet ended for the Eagles with Elam running the first leg of the 4×400m relay, followed by Ervin, Waynes, and sophomore Bryce Lindsey where they finished in 3:16.75 which was good for a seventh place finish.
“This weekend is another exciting time for EMU Track and Field as EMU will be represented at two nationally and internationally known events, the Drake Relays in Iowa as well as the Penn Relays in Philadelphia and other team members locally at the Hillsdale Relays,” said Goodridge. “More and more of the guys are setting personal bests and gaining increased competitive confi-dence.”
The Eagles will split up again next weekend for competition. The team will compete in three different meets from April 24-26. Part of the team will stay in state for the Hillsdale Fina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich., while others will travel to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays, and the last group will compete in Philadelphia, Pa., for the legendary Penn Relays.
