Women’s track and field set to take off at MAC Championships

By Roger Sievers
Western Herald

All the hard work and preparation has come down to this weekend for the Western Michigan University women’s track and field team. They compete in the Mid‑American Conference Championships in Kent, Ohio on the campus of Kent State University.

“This is what you work for the whole year,” said WMU women’s track and field coach Kelly Lycan. “If you can’t get fired up for the [MAC] Championships, then you shouldn’t be putting on spikes.”
The Broncos finished second last year in the MAC Championships and look to win it all this year in one of the toughest conferences in the country.

Four out of the top eight 20 lb. weight throwers in the nation are from the conference, including Western Michigan University’s own junior Irene Cooper.
Cooper broke her own school record in the weight throw last Friday at the Ball State Quadrangular meet that Western Michigan won for the fifth straight time, throwing a distance of 65 feet, 10.25 inches for first place.

A few of the women joining Cooper to the championships are sophomore Victoria Chatman and senior Jennifer Sabra. Both will compete in the 200 and 400-meter run, as well as the 4 x 4 meter relay.

Senior Danielle Brown will also compete in the 400-meter run and join Chatman and Sabra on the 4 x 400 meter relay team. Sophomore Ashley Hunault will also compete; she will be in the long jump. In the MAC Championships, each school can only have three people participate in each event.

The University of Akron Zips will be the team to beat this year, as they won last year’s championships. However, other teams have improved, as the MAC runs very deep with competitive schools, such as rival Central Michigan University, host Kent State University, Ball State University and Miami University of Ohio. All will look to be in the hunt for the crown this year.
Among the athletes from other competing schools are Ball State University’s Amber Williams, who excels in the hurdles and sprints. Akron’s Stevi Large will also be a key competitor. She is an All‑American and holds school records in the shot put, discus, weight and hammer throw.

“Every team has their superstars,” said Lycan.

All the Broncos are going to have to compete at their highest level because in the MAC Championships, the top eight finishers in each event score towards team points. In a close meet like this, it will only come down to a couple of points, so every point will be crucial if the Brown and Gold look to win.

“We are counting on the whole team,” said Lycan. “This is our version of the basketball tournament. It is all about this weekend.”

The Brown and Gold have definitely put in a lot of work in practice, and coming off a win at the Ball State Quadrangular meet for the fifth straight time, they definitely have momentum on their side heading into the championships this weekend.

“We are fine tuned and all ready to go,” said Lycan. “We want to give our best, compete well and have fun.”

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 26 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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