YPSILANTI, Mich. -- Aisha Hodge took home the title in the 800 meter run to highlight the Western Michigan track and field team taking third at the 2013 Indoor Mid-American Conference at Bowen Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
The Broncos racked up 73 points to edge out Akron, who finished in fourth with 71. Eastern Michigan took second with 94 points but no one came close to MAC Champions Kent State, who totaled 175 points.
Hodge earned her first indoor individual MAC Title by running a time of 2:13.87. She topped Buffalo's Meghan Manley by .56 seconds to secure first place.
“Aisha ran great,” said head coach
Kelly Lycan. “It's really fun to see someone progressing through their career like she has. Her confidence has just been growing all year and coach (Dani) Prince has really done a great job with her.”
Hodge took the lead right off the gun and never trailed.
“You have to have confidence if you are going to run like that,” added Lycan. “With about 250 meters left she just took off and ran away from everybody. I think it surprised them and by time the field realized it the race was over. That's just confidence right there.”
Rebecca Hall also had a strong day, scoring in the 200 meter dash, 60 meter dash and as a member of the 4x400 meter team. In the 200 she took second place by 0.001 second to earn eight critical points with a time of 24.56.
Andrea Arnold and
Iris Campbell also scored in the race. Arnold took seventh with a time of 25.08 and Campbell secured fourth place with a time of 24.71. Hall later took eighth in the 60 with a time of 7.70.
In the 4x400 Hall, Arnold,
Lindsey Hufnagel and Hodge combined to run a time of 3:45.13 to take third place. The Broncos had the lead up until the final leg and just missed taking first place by under a second.
The Broncos scored in two different field events on the day. Junior
Chelsea Gerbers became only the third thrower in program history to break the 60 foot barrier in the weight throw, taking sixth place with a distance of 60 feet, .50 inches.
Chiara Allen and
Whitney Freeman both scored in the triple jump with Allen taking fifth with a distance of 39 feet, .50 inches and Freehman finishing just behind her at 38 feet, seven inches to take sixth.
Western Michigan heads to Notre Dame next weekend for their “Last Chance Meet” in an attempt to qualify some competitors for the NCAA Championships.
