Women's Track & Field | February 22, 2018
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan track and field team will lean on its youth as it heads to Bowling Green State University for the 2018 Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday.
The meet kicks off on Friday morning at 10 a.m. with the heptathlon, with junior Allison Hufnagel and freshman Clare Lycan competing.
Finals on the day are the long jump, weight throw, 5,000-meter run and the distance medley relay. The long jump will feature freshman Diamond Mitchell and sophomore Gabrielle Collins. Mitchell has the higher qualify distance at 19' 4" (5.89 meters) but it's Collins that has been more consistent on the season. The Chesaning, Mich., native holds the sixth-best distance heading into the weekend at 19' 3.25" (5.87 meters).
"For Gabby, it's all about consistency on the runway," said head coach Kelly Lycan. "We didn't have that t from her last year and she has been way better this yeah. As long as she hits the board, she's going to go far enough to score us some points."
Collins will also compete in the 60-meter hurdles trials at 2:30 p.m.
Mitchell also has more work to be done. The sprinter is part of WMU's dynamic duo along with 2017 MAC Indoor Freshman of the Year Madison Meredith. Both are set to compete in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash prelims. Mitchell ranks eighth in the MAC in the 60 at 7.62 seconds, while Meredith is just a bit behind at 7.67. Meredith has the higher rank in the 200 at 10th, with a time of 22.66 seconds.
Two more youngsters, sophomore Sarah Anderson and freshman Juliane Sormain, are set to compete in the 800-meter run trials. Anderson scored at last season's MAC Indoor Championship in both the 800 and the mile run. Coming into the meet, Anderson ranks second in the MAC with a time of 2:09.17. Junior Haley Ritsema will also compete in the event. Anderson will also compete in the mile run on Saturday.
One of WMU's veterans will have a chance to score later on in the day in the 5,000-meter run at 5:30 p.m. Senior Hanne Christensen, the reigning MAC Cross Country individual champion, will run in the event. Christensen has the fourth-best seed time in the conference at 16:46.61. At last season's meet she scored after finishing in eighth place.
Western Michigan will also have a chance to score in the distance medley relay. The Broncos will trot out Anderson, Sormain, Maria McDaniel and Claire Gilbert. The squad currently ranks second with a time of 11:39.07.
