Ball State rounds out successful first indoor meet of the season

Friday, December 10

Bloomington, IN

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Hoosier Open

Ball State rounds out successful first indoor meet of the season

December 10, 2021 | Track & Field

Hoosier Open Results (PDF)Hoosier Open Results (Web)

Cardinals shine with personal bests all over the track to open 2021-22 campaign

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Ball State track and field team wrapped up its first indoor meet of the season with many personal bests at the Hoosier Open Friday evening at Gladstein Field House.

"I was pleased with the performances today," head coach Adrian Wheatley said. "One of the goals for us this weekend was to compete and see what our team is made and what we're building towards. It was a solid weekend and it will set the tone for the rest of the year. We just have to hold up our end of the bargain. We're going to keep it rolling."

Makensie Kramer got the meet started in the 60-meter hurdles with a third-place finish in a time of 8.94, which was a personal best. Jennah Rogers also set a personal-best mark in the event with a 9.09 time in the finals. Karlie Zumbro was not far off her fastest time after clocking in a 9.10.

In the 60-meter dash, Aaleiah Winford clocked in a 7.70 and won her heat before lowering that mark even more with a 7.67 personal best in the final to take second. Michelle Lehmann and Moriah Johnson were close behind with times of 7.77 and 7.83, respectively.

In the 200-meter dash, Alexis Thigpen posted a personal-best time of 25.43 en route to a second-place finish.

Next, in the 500-meter run, Payton Barlow posted one of the fastest times by a Cardinal with a 1:14.38. She had a 40-second pace through the opening 300 meters and used it to carry her over the line. Just one second behind her was Emma Potter at 1:15.38.

Ashley Craycraft and Jessica Velez carried the mile run for Ball State and crossed the line just under one second from each other. Craycraft's strong run concluded in 5:37.77, while Velez set a personal record of 5:38.57.

Running in her first-ever indoor 5k, Maddie Aul placed third with a mark of 19:54.11.

In the final track event, the Cardinals fielded two 4x400 teams, something that stood out to Coach Wheatley.

"One of the exciting things I look at is the mile relay. When you have a team that wants to run the mile relay, you've got a special program. It's one of the hardest races in track and field. The one thing that we've been working on is building team comradery and that team atmosphere. The kids are buying into that and understanding that being part of a relay team is important. We've just going to keep building on it."

The quartet of Barlow, Potter, Winford and Zumbro placed second with a time of 3:48.30. Meanwhile, Joan Easter, Moriah Johnson, Jenelle Rogers and Craycraft were sixth at 4:07.78.

In the field events, Easter had a personal best long jump of 5.63 (18-5 3/4). McKenna Cinotte scored a 5.51 (18-1), while Zumbro added a 5.22 (17-1 1/2) mark.

Jenelle Rogers threw the shot put at 12.59 (41-3 3/4), marking a personal best. She led the competition before being summoned to run in the 4x400m relay.

Ball State returns to the track following the holiday break, Jan. 14-15, for the Jim Green Invitational in Lexington, Ky.