Track ready to compete in Michigan Intercollegiates

By Roger Sievers
Western Herald

The Western Michigan University women’s track and field team will head east to Ypsilanti this weekend as they compete in the Michigan Intercollegiates, facing every Division I track and field team in the state of Michigan on Friday and Saturday.

The Broncos have started off well this season after finishing ranked No. 30 in the nation last year. They look to continue to build on that success.
“We’ve had a decent start to the season,” said Western Michigan track and field head coach Kelly Lycan. “Usually January is an ugly month and we work to get off the rust.”

The favorite this weekend will be the University of Michigan, one of the nation’s top schools. Michigan has finished ahead of WMU the last two years, while the Broncos have taken second in the meet. Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University, the University of Detroit‑Mercy and Oakland University will be the other schools in the competition.

Lycan in his eighth season at Western Michigan as the track and field coach and also coaches the women’s cross country team. Although he enjoys both sports, track is his true passion.
“I love cross country, being out on the trails, being outside in all weather,” said Lycan. “But I am a track guy, though.”

Western Michigan was next to last in the standings the first two years Lycan was here at WMU, but have since been climbing the ladder of success.

Some of the star runners for the Brown and Gold include sophomore Victoria Chatman, who finished first in the 200-meter dash last week, at the Gladstein Invitation at Indiana University with a time of 25.21.
“Victoria is really starting the year great and picking up from last year,” said Lycan.

Another sophomore, Ashley Hunault finished first in the long jump last week breaking 19 feet for the first time this season. Hunault was an All‑American in the long jump last year. Hometown athlete and Kalamazoo Central High School graduate Danielle Brown also looks to make a big impact this year. The senior finished seventh in the NCAA last year in the hurdles and also qualified for the Olympic trials.

Junior Irene Cooper is strong with the weights, as she was ranked fourth last year in the 20-pound throw and was the top finisher in the weight throw at the Gladstein Invitational.

As far as long distances go, senior Jennifer Roberts ran her best mile last week finishing in fifth place in the mile run invitational with a time of 5:09:82 and is have a strong start to the indoor season, according to Lycan. Freshman Brittni Hutton is also a good long distance runner taking second place in the mile run open with a time of 5:15.97.

Senior Jennifer Sabra looks to redeem herself from last year, as she just barely missed getting into the NCAA Championships and Olympic trials. She finished ninth in the NCAAs and missed the Olympic trials by just a couple of seconds. Her events are the 400-meter hurdles outdoors and the 400-meter, 200-meter and 4 x 4 relay while indoors.

Also, junior hurdler Alexis Brown is on the rise and expected to be a tough competitor against competition this weekend.

The Broncos know they have a tough task ahead of them, but they are ready for the challenge.
“Our goal is to be the best team in Michigan,” said Lycan.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Jan 29 2009. 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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