Ball State University
MAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Cardinals Finish Third at Outdoor MAC Championships
May 12, 2024 | Track & Field
DEKALB, Ill. — The Ball State track and field team wrapped up MAC Outdoor Championships Saturday evening in DeKalb, Illinois.Â
After three full days of competition, the Cardinals are walking away third in the Mid-American Conference. The team had many outstanding performances, solidifying its place in the close race for the championship title. Â
"The meet was a good demonstration of what we've been practicing all year long," said head coach Adrian Wheatley. "We talk about everything we do being a dress rehearsal for the Big Show and today was the Big Show. Across the board we had a ton of great performances, and the team really rallied around one another. As a coach, I enjoy seeing our young ladies compete during the championship season. We're excited to see how many individuals qualify for round and on to the national meet."Â
The heptathlon athletes kicked things off Thursday morning with the first four of their seven events. Getting an early lead, Jenelle Rogers finished the first event, 100 meter hurdles, in first with a time of 13.70.Â
Rogers maintained her lead throughout the rest of the competition, finishing first in four of the seven events, including the hurdles, shot put (14.32m), 200 meter dash (23.73) and long jump (6.00m). She finished the competition with 5,657 points.Â
Sophie Daugard was a powerful competitor in the heptathlon as well, finishing sixth overall with a total of 4,731 points, a new personal best. Daugard finished second in three of the seven events, including the shot put (12.88m), long jump (5.49m) and javelin throw (36.91m). Her attempts in the javelin landed her a new personal best mark.Â
In just her second heptathlon competition, Kendra Keesling had some exciting moments. Keesling reached new personal best marks in three events, the 100 meter hurdles (15.54), 200 meter dash (26.80) and 800 meter run (2:49.45). Â
In the individual javelin competition, Brooklyn Taylor hit a big personal best mark of 30.15 meters, nearly two meters farther than her pervious best.Â
Thursday's track events saw multiple incredible qualifying performances. In the 400 meter hurdles prelims, both Lauren Graham (1:03.42) and Lindley Steele (1:02.95) ran personal bests to qualify them for the finals.Â
The 200 meter dash prelims was another exciting event as three Cardinal competitors qualified for the final event including, Rogers (23.53), Alana Springer (23.99) and Jenna Oriani (23.90). Rogers's efforts were good for a new personal best time.Â
Following the conclusion of the heptathlon on Friday, Rogers had another busy day in individual events. In the shot put, Rogers hit a new season best mark of 15.48 meters, good for second overall.Â
Not long after, she secured a first place finish in the long jump with a season best mark of 6.21 meters. Rogers's victory in the long jump is the first time a Ball State competitor has won the event since 2008.Â
Friday's track events were equally as exciting, starting with the 100 meter hurdles preliminaries. Rogers qualified in the event with a second place time of 13.61.Â
In the 100 meter prelims, all three of the competing Cardinals qualified for the final. Makayla Sumrall lead the qualifying group with a time of 11.66, followed by Springer (11.80) and Moriah Johnson (11.88).Â
Saturday, the final day of competition, brought high suspense and many impressive performances from the Ball State team.Â
Among the first events of the day, the Cardinal's 4x100 meter relay team made up of Sumrall, Springer, Johnson and Steele, had an incredible race, winning gold. The team's first-place finish came with a time of 44.92, the second fastest finish in Ball State history.Â
In the 100 meter hurdle finals, Rogers pulled away with the gold medal after crossing the finish line with a time of 13.55. This was the first time Ball State was victorious in this event in 14 years and Rogers's third win of the competition.Â
Success continued through the 100 meter finals. Sumrall ran an excellent race, winning the event and running a personal best time of 11.25. Springer came in second, running a time of 11.42 and Johnson finished sixth with a personal best time of 11.61.Â
Both, the 400 meter hurdle finals and the 200 meter finals saw more top finishes. In the hurdles, Steele finished fifth, running a new best time of 1:02.23. Graham finished eighth with a time of 1:06.63. Rogers finished the 200 meter dash third with a time of 23.76. Springer finished close behind in fourth and Oriani finished seventh.Â
The final event on the track was the 4x400 meter relay. Ball State's team of Alexis Thigpen, Emma Potter, Paige Kirtz and Steele ran a great race, finishing third with a collective time of 3:45.45.Â
Wrapping up the weekend was the high jump and the discus throw. Rogers found herself on the podium once again after finishing fifth with a high jump mark of 1.73 meters, a season best.Â
Sydney Miller made her name known in the discus event after hitting a new personal best throw of 44.40 meters. Her efforts landed her a spot on the podium in sixth place.Â
The Cardinals finished with 103 total points. Rogers was also named the Mid-American Conference's Female MVP of the year, her second year in a row winning this honor.Â
The team will now look ahead to post season possibilities.Â
Ball State Individual Results at Outdoor MAC Championships
Thursday - Field Events
Heptathlon
   1st - Jenelle Rogers - 5657
      100m Hurdles - 1st - 13.70
      High Jump - 3rd - 1.66m
      Shot Put - 1st - 14.32m
      200m - 1st - 23.73
      Long Jump - 1st - 6.00mÂ
      Javelin - 6th - 30.31m
      800m - 6th - 2:31.32
  6th - Sophie Daugard - 4731
      100m Hurdles - 10th - 15.78
      High Jump - 8th - 1.42mÂ
      Shot Put - 2nd - 12.88m
      200m - 4th - 25.84
      Long Jump - 2nd - 5.49mÂ
    Javelin - 2nd - 36.91m
      800m - 9th - 2:35.86
  10th - Kendra Keesling - 3859
      100m Hurdles - 9th - 15.54
      High Jump - 10th - 1.39mÂ
      Shot Put - 9th - 9.59mÂ
      200m - 8th - 26.80
      Long Jump - 7th - 5.13mÂ
      Javelin - 10th - 20.00mÂ
      800m - 11th - 2:49.45
Hammer Throw
16th - Malena Higgins - 38.95
17th - Sydney Miller - 38.79
Javelin
12th - Sophie Daugard - 30.82m
13th - Brooklyn Taylor - 30.15mÂ
Thursday - Track Events
1500m Prelims
14th - Sarah Mahnensmith - 4:34.51
400m Hurdles Prelims
6th - Lauren Graham - 1:03.42Q
7th - Lindley Steele - 1:02.95q
200m Prelims
2nd - Jenelle Rogers - 23.53QÂ
5th - Alana Springer - 23.99Q
7th - Jenna Oriani - 23.90q
11th - Makayla Sumrall - 24.18
10000mÂ
11th - Carly Spletzer - 36:20.65
Friday - Field EventsÂ
Shot PutÂ
2nd - Jenelle Rogers - 15.48 (SB)
11th - Sophie Daugard - 13.21mÂ
15th - Brooklyn Taylor - 12.49mÂ
Long Jump
1st - Jenelle Rogers - 6.21m (SB)
15th - Lindley Steele - 5.45m
Friday - Track Events
100m Hurdles PrelimsÂ
2nd - Jenelle Rogers - 13.61Q
10th - Jennah Rogers - 14.20
11th - Lauren Graham - 14.40
400m Prelims
14th - Emma Potter - 56.77Â
17th - Paige Kirtz - 57.59Â
18th - Alexis Thigpen - 57.63
100m Prelims
1st - Makayla Sumrall - 11.66Q
3rd - Alana Springer - 11.80Q
7th - Moriah Johnson - 11.88qÂ
Saturday - Field Events
Triple JumpÂ
11th - Mckenna Cinotte - 11.52m
13th - Brenna Lehrer - 11.20m
18th - Taylor Hickman - 10.64m
Discus
6th - Sydney Miller - 44.40m (PR)
High JumpÂ
5th - Jenelle Rogers - 1.73m
9th - Malina Miller - 1.66m
Saturday - Running Events
4x100m RelayÂ
1st - Makayla Sumrall, Alana Springer, Moriah Johnson, Lindley Steele - 44.92
100m Hurdles Finals
1st - Jenelle Rogers - 13.55
100m Finals
1st - Makayla Sumrall - 11.25Â
2nd - Alana Springer - 11.42
6th - Moriah Johnson - 11.61
400m Hurdles Finals
5th - Lindley Steele - 1:02.34 (PR)
8th - Lauren Graham - 1:06.63
200m FinalsÂ
3rd - Jenelle Rogers - 23.76
4th - Alana Springer - 23.89
7th - Jenna Oriani - 1:09.57
5000mÂ
19th - Sarah Mahnensmith
4x400m RelayÂ
3rd - Alexis Thigpen, Emma Potter, Paige Kirtz, Lindley Steele - 3:45.45
Players Mentioned
