Championships Preview: Cards Ready For MAC Meet

Ball State Track & Field at Outdoor MAC Championships
Date	Friday-Saturday, May 7-8
Time & Locations	All Day \| Oxford, Ohio (hosted by Miami)
Meet Website	Championships Page
Live Video	Video Stream Page
Live Results	Live Results
Meet Information	Meet Entries
Social Media	Twitter \| Instagram

The training is done and the season schedule is complete. It's time for the MAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the culmination of a lot of hard work for the Ball State track & field team. The Cardinals are coming off positive performances last week at Notre Dame and spirits are high heading into the conference meet.

"We're excited to go out and compete," head coach Brian Etelman said. "If you look at the entire regular season, we have a good body of work. It'll be a very competitive meet and we're hoping to do our jobs as well as we can."

This year's championship is a two-day event, rather than the traditional three days. Etelman says that will be a factor to watch, as entry strategies for many teams have changed. For others, they approached it like a three-day meet. This year's meet promises to be a battle of depth and overall quality.

The Cardinals are projected to score well in the sprints, where Etelman says the majority of BSU's opportunity lies. BSU owns a top-4 seed (or multiple in the top 4) in five different sprint events. Ball State's 4x100 relay team owns the conference's top time of 45.14, a school record mark and the Cardinals have their sights set on the conference record.

Bryeana Byrdsong, the 2019 MAC Outdoor Outstanding Performer, is the third seed in the 100m and 200m and runs second on that record-breaking relay team. Michelle Lehmann runs the relay's anchor leg and is the fourth seed in the 200 and fifth in the 100. MaQuila Norman (23.93) is the second seed in the 200m and runs in both relays. Ivy McKee leads off the 4x100 relay and is also in the 100m field.

In hurdles, the Cards have a pair of top-4 seeds in Anasja Troutman and Kennedy Batts. Troutman (14.03) is the third seed in the 100m hurdles, followed closely by Batts (14.06). The Cardinals also have top-4 seeds in the high jump (Jenelle Rogers), javenlin (Abby Denham) and heptathlon (Karlie Zumbro).

In distance, fans will see Elka Machan, the sixth seed in the 5000m run Saturday evening toward the end of the meet. Machan was fourth in cross country last fall. Kayla Jones and Kylee Mastin will compete for points in the 800m, as will Grace Dean in the 1500m run. BSU has three entries in the steeplechase, led by sixth seed Emmalyne Tarsa.

Etelman cited the high jump as an event where BSU could surprise, and Machan has been one of the top 5K runners in the MAC since the fall.

Fans can follow live results HERE and can CLICK HERE for video streams of the meet.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kennedy Batts

Bryeana Byrdsong

Grace Dean

Abby Denham

Kayla Jones

Michelle Lehmann

Elka Machan

Kylee Mastin

Ivy McKee

MaQuila Norman

Jenelle Rogers

Emmalyne Tarsa

Anasja Troutman

Karlie Zumbro