Women's Track & Field | February 24, 2017
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Western Michigan track and field team scored in two events on the day and qualified for several other events for Saturday's finals at the Indoor Mid-American Conference Championships at Eastern Michigan on Friday.
Junior Hanne Christensen took eighth overall in the 5,000-meter run to earn one point after finishing with a time of 17:23.51. After being stuck in a slow pack for the first portion of the race the Grand Blanc, Mich., native took the lead and held on during the final mile to tough out the finish to earn the point.
Redshirt freshman Gabrielle Collins scored in the tightest event of the day, the long jump. Collins jumped a distance of 19' 3.50" to claim eighth place and one point. The event finished with just a gap of 1.25" from Collins claiming third overall.
The Broncos had a successful day in the sprints and the hurdle races. In the 60-meter hurdles all three of WMU's athletes turned in personal-best times. Senior Lindsey Hufnagel had the fifth-fastest time to qualify for Saturday's finals after running a time of 8.55 seconds. Hufnagel's time is the second-fastest in program history, missing the record by just .03. Jade McKnight ran a time of 8.83 and Collins ran a time of 8.85, just missing out on qualifying.
Hufnagel also had the fastest time in the 400-meter dash, qualifying at the top with a mark of 55.78 seconds.
WMU qualified two athletes in the 60-meter dash in Madison Meredith and Naiomi Dulaney. Meredith, competing in her first MAC Championship qualified with a time of 7.57 seconds. Dulaney finished in eighth for the final qualifying spot at 7.56.
"I thought Madison did a really good job," said head coach Kelly Lycan. "As a freshman she had some nerves but handled it very well. The finals for this race are going to be very wide open and very exciting."
Meredith also went on to qualify in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.07 seconds. Sarita Dotson, the defending MAC Indoor 200 champion was the Broncos' top qualifier in the event, running the third-fastest time of the day at 24.53.
Redshirt freshman Sarah Anderson claimed the top qualifying spot in the 800-meter meter run. Anderson finished with a time of 2:08.75, just under two seconds faster than Natalie Cizmas from Eastern Michigan, who finished at 2:10.61.
"Sarah didn't have entry times and she was basically stuck in slow heats all season," added Lycan. "When that happens you tend to just run with the pack and she had a chance to day and she looked really good out there."
WMU also just missed out on scoring in the distance medley. Amy Littlefield, Diajah Ruffin, Holly Blowers and Daya Wagh combined for a time of 12:13.06.
The Broncos have a full slate of action for Saturday, culminating with their defense of their 4x400-metere relay title.
