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Cardinals "For Real" After Great Showing At Bowling Green
January 29, 2021 | Track & Field
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Heading into Friday's Sid Sink Invitational at Bowling Green, Ball State head track & field coach Brian Etelman was looking for the Cardinals to build on their season opener from two weeks ago. Roster availability is fluid these days, and heading into the final weekend of January Etelman was looking for progress, execution and a the success that comes with the program's hard work.
The Cardinals delivered. Of the eight running events, a Ball State Cardinal placed first in six and BSU also went 1-2 in the high jump. On the conference scoreboard, Etelman says people in the conference may say, "Wow, Ball State is for real now."
"For the most part, everyone got better," the head coach said. "And the good thing is we can still get better."
Freshman Alexis Thigpen turned in a stellar 57.08 (converted to 56.34) time to win the 400m, which is the league's best mark and nearly a full second better than the runner-up from Eastern Michigan.
Jenelle Rogers, another freshman, is now the conference leader in the high jump after winning with a 1.69m mark.Â
RELATED: See the MAC leaderboard here
And now the Cards are 2nd and 3rd in the 60m hurdles. Anasja Troutman (8.82) and Kennedy Batts (8.91) went 2-3, respectively, in that event and are just behind EMU's Alysse Wade.
The distance Cardinals had some faces who didn't compete in the opener but Etelman liked what he saw from that group, which is coached by Sarah Pease. Kylee Mastin led the pack with a 5:06 mile to finish first in a race with four Cardinals in it.
"Kylee was sharp. It's relative because it's their first race, but Kylee did a nice job. She and Elka (Machan) carried our distance group."Â
Machan, another freshman, was the top finisher in the 3000m, a race with five Cardinals in the field. She ran 9:56.98, about 27.4 seconds faster than the next finisher. Machan's 3K mark is now 3rd in the conference and one second out of 2nd.
Michelle Lehmann and Ivy McKee were at the top of the board in the 60m and MaQuila Norman was 2nd in the 200m. Kayla Jones won the 800m with a 2:17.02.
Ball State is scheduled to run Friday, Feb. 12 at Grand Valley State's Big Meet. BSU's indoor home meet is the week after that, Thursday, Feb. 18.
The Cardinals delivered. Of the eight running events, a Ball State Cardinal placed first in six and BSU also went 1-2 in the high jump. On the conference scoreboard, Etelman says people in the conference may say, "Wow, Ball State is for real now."
"For the most part, everyone got better," the head coach said. "And the good thing is we can still get better."
Freshman Alexis Thigpen turned in a stellar 57.08 (converted to 56.34) time to win the 400m, which is the league's best mark and nearly a full second better than the runner-up from Eastern Michigan.
Jenelle Rogers, another freshman, is now the conference leader in the high jump after winning with a 1.69m mark.Â
RELATED: See the MAC leaderboard here
And now the Cards are 2nd and 3rd in the 60m hurdles. Anasja Troutman (8.82) and Kennedy Batts (8.91) went 2-3, respectively, in that event and are just behind EMU's Alysse Wade.
The distance Cardinals had some faces who didn't compete in the opener but Etelman liked what he saw from that group, which is coached by Sarah Pease. Kylee Mastin led the pack with a 5:06 mile to finish first in a race with four Cardinals in it.
"Kylee was sharp. It's relative because it's their first race, but Kylee did a nice job. She and Elka (Machan) carried our distance group."Â
Machan, another freshman, was the top finisher in the 3000m, a race with five Cardinals in the field. She ran 9:56.98, about 27.4 seconds faster than the next finisher. Machan's 3K mark is now 3rd in the conference and one second out of 2nd.
Michelle Lehmann and Ivy McKee were at the top of the board in the 60m and MaQuila Norman was 2nd in the 200m. Kayla Jones won the 800m with a 2:17.02.
Ball State is scheduled to run Friday, Feb. 12 at Grand Valley State's Big Meet. BSU's indoor home meet is the week after that, Thursday, Feb. 18.
Players Mentioned
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Track & Field
Distance
/ Track & Field
Sprints/Jumps
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Sprints
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Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track & Field
Sprints
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Sprints/Hurdles
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