Track and field close out indoor season

By Colleen Drozan
Western Herald

Senior Irene Cooper will head down to Fayetteville, Ark. to represent Western Michigan University at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday, March 12-13.

Cooper will be the only Bronco to go to the NCAA Indoor Championships this year. With only one Bronco going, Western Michigan has a smaller chance of being among the top 30 teams, but WMU has done it before so the team is optimistic.

“If Irene makes first place, we will get ten points and we could make it in the top 30 schools with just that,” said head coach Kelly Lycan.

Cooper will be competing in the 20-pound weight throw, which is the indoor equivalent to the hammer throw.

“Irene has a good shot at being one of the top eight,” Lycan said.

Western Michigan’s 4×400-meter relay team came very close to qualifying after hitting a season best time of 3:39.53 to make a provisional qualifying mark.  Ashley Hunault ran the lead leg for the Lady Broncos with a 56.9 split, and from there, 400-meter MAC champion Victoria Chatman finished with a 53.6 split for her best time of the season.

Iris Campbell took the third leg and ran a personal best of the season with a time of 54.8 seconds to keep the Brown and Gold in the lead.  Leya Munwam finished running the anchor leg with a split of 53.9 seconds.

Hunault also came close to qualifying for the championships in the long jump.

Jennifer Roberts was two seconds away from qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:36.10.  Roberts’ time was not only her personal best, but the third fastest time in WMU history, placing her behind former All-Americans Kayla Skelly and Caroline Mullen.

The WMU track and field team will head to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the Alabama Relays on Friday, March 26.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Mar 10 2010. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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