Track & Field Travels to Akron for MAC Indoor Championships

February 24, 2016 | Track & Field

By: Ball State Athletics

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | LIVE RESULTS | SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State track & field team will look to build upon last weekend's impressive performance at the Ball State Tune-Up, when it travels to Akron's Stile Athletics Field House for the 2016 Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships which run Friday and Saturday.

“We are all extremely excited to compete at the MAC Championships this weekend,” first-year head coach Brian Etelman said. “We had a perfect end to our regular season with our effort at our home meet and moved multiple individuals into scoring position. Our student-athletes do a tremendous job of responding to competitive challenges, particularly in scored meets, so I expect a positive showing this weekend. We are looking forward to competing with pride and showcasing all of the hard work we have put in the past six months. We couldn't be any more prepared.”

The two-day event, which will feature athletes from all 12 MAC women's teams and all five MAC men's programs, begins at 11 a.m. Friday with action in the men's heptathlon. Field events for the women start at 12:30 p.m. Friday with the long jump, while women's action on the track begins at 2:15 p.m. with the 60m hurdles. The top eight performers from each event will score based on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale.

In the fourth season of automatic qualifying standards, the Cardinals will send 13 student-athletes to this season's league championship meet. Under the current format, each event is capped at 20 participants. If 20 student-athletes did not post automatic marks in an event, entrants are selected going down the conference's performance list.

This season, four Cardinals earned MAC automatic qualifying marks for the indoor championships starting with senior Marie Lumpkin (Losantville, Ind./Union) who opened the season with a career-best and school-record weight throw mark of 18.55m (60'-10.5”) at the Mastodon Opener (Dec. 5). The effort has her seeded fifth in the conference entering this weekend's championships.

Freshman Peyton Stewart (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) was the second Ball State student-athlete to earn a MAC Indoor Championship automatic qualifying mark when she crossed the finish line of the 60m dash in 7.61 at the Bowling Green Opener (Jan. 9). Stewart turned in a career-fast 60m time of 7.58 in the finals of the 60m dash at the GVSU Big Meet (Feb. 13), which is the fastest time for a Ball State sprinter since Amber Williams won the 60m dash at the 2009 MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships with a time of 7.44. Stewart enters the MAC Championships ranked sixth in the league in the 60m dash, and also qualified for the 200m dash with a time of 25.53.

Ball State also had a pair of student-athletes earn MAC automatic qualifying marks at last weekend's Ball State Tune-Up (Feb. 19). Senior Zenée Gadson (Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro) was the first, winning the triple jump with a career-best distance of 12.10m (39'-8.5”). Moments later, freshman Jazmin Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/North College Hill) opened the first heat of the 60m hurdles with a career-fast time of 8.68 to win the event and give the Cardinals back-to-back MAC automatic qualifying marks. Smith enters the MAC Championships seeded fourth in the 60m hurdles, while Gadson is seeded fifth in the triple jump.

Senior Danielle Dahl (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) just missed a MAC automatic qualifying mark by winning the 800m run at the Ball State Tune-Up in 2:14.05. When converted for Ball State's track size, Dahl's time in the event is 2:12.53, which was just shy of the league automatic mark of 2:12.51, but still has her seeded eighth in the conference meet.

Senior Michaela Hull (Bloomington, Ind./South) also came close to a MAC auto mark with a career-best shot put throw of 14.34m (47'-0.75”). The effort ranks 12th in the MAC and puts Hull second in program history, trailing only the mark of 14.77m (48'-5.75) set by Gena Rusch in 1990.

Freshman Amber McGee (Fort Wayne, Ind./Northrop) looks to be the busiest Ball State student-athlete at the MAC Championships, as she qualified for both the 200m and 400m dashes, and is slated to leadoff the 4x400m relay. In addition to McGee and Stewart, sophomore Anna-Kay West (Manchester, Jamaica/Manchester) is the third and final Ball State athlete scheduled to compete in multiple events, as she made the cut in both the 60m dash and 60m hurdles.

Overall, the Cardinals are looking to climb up in the rankings after placing 11th among the 12 teams at last season's MAC Indoor Championship with 22 total points. Ball State is projected to score 19 points this season, which would place them 11th again, but also within striking distance of a top 10 finish.

Fans can get the most up-to-date news on Ball State track & field by following the team on Twitter: @BallStateSports, @BallStateTFXC and @CoachE_BSU.

Ball State Entries for MAC Indoor Championship

Weight Throw – Prelims/Finals 1:30 p.m. Friday
Flight 2 - Marie Lumpkin - 18.55m / 60-10.5

60m Hurdles - Prelims 2:15 p.m. Friday / Finals 2:10 p.m. Saturday
Heat 1 - Jazmin Smith - 8.68
Heat 3 - Anna-Kay West - 8.85

400m Dash - Prelims 2:45 p.m. Friday / Finals 2:35 p.m. Saturday
Heat 3 - Gabby Sims - 56.85
Heat 4 - Amber McGee - 57.07

60m Dash - Prelims 3:15 p.m. Friday / Finals 3 p.m. Saturday
Heat 1 - Anna-Kay West - 7.80
Heat 3 - Peyton Stewart - 7.58

800m Run - Prelims 3:45 p.m. Friday / Finals 3:20 p.m. Saturday
Heat 1 - Danielle Dahl - 2:12.53

200m Dash - Prelims 4:20 p.m. Friday / 3:40 p.m. Saturday
Heat 2 - Amber McGee - 25.37
Heat 4 - Peyton Stewart - 25.53

High Jump - Prelims/Finals 1 p.m. Saturday
Regan Lewis - 1.68m / 5-6

Triple Jump - Prelims/Finals 2 p.m. Saturday
Flight 1 - Gabrielle Perryman - 11.35m / 37-3
Flight 2 - Zenee Gadson - 12.10m / 39-8.5

Shot Put - Prelims/Finals 2:05 p.m. Saturday
Flight 1 - Michaela Hull - 14.34m / 47'-0.75"
Flight 1 - Adrienne Mayfield - 11.04m / 36'-2.75"

4x400m Relay - Finals 4:40 p.m. Saturday
Section 1 - Amber McGee, Olivia Ashba, Danielle Dahl, Gabby Sims - 3:48.89