AKRON, Ohio -- The Western Michigan track and field team wrapped up the 2013 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championship on Saturday evening, claiming sixth place.
The Broncos racked up 72 total points but could not best MAC Champions Kent State, who claimed their second-straight championship with 169 points. Hosts Akron took second place, Buffalo took third followed by Miami and Eastern Michigan.
"It is definitely a disappointment to finish where we did," said head coach Kelly Lycan. "It doesn't make me real happy that we didn't win an event but I thought we had some great individual performances today."
Although no member of WMU's team claimed an individual MAC title junior Aisha Hodge took second place in the 800-meter run and was named Second Team All-MAC. Hodge, a native of Bangor, Mich., finished with a time of 2:08.61 to earn eight points, while senior Rachel Whitley ran her best time of the season of 2:10.81 to claim fifth place. Hodge held the lead during the back stretch but was caught by Buffalo's Meghan Manley in the final 30 meters.
"The last three MAC Championships Aisha has finished second, first and second in the 800 and that's really good," added Lycan. "I was also very proud of Rachel Whitley. She ran her best race at her final meet to score some big points for us."
Senior Iris Campbell scored in three individual events, including a photo-finish that resulted in a third place finish in the 200-meter dash. Campbell finished with a time of 23.816 seconds but Akron's Rachel Christian beat her by .005 seconds to claim second place. Andrea Arnold took fifth in the event with a time of 24.22 seconds. The two flipped their finishing order in the 400-meter dash with Arnold taking second with a time of 54.32 and Campbell claiming fourth with a time of 54.81. For finishing as a runner up Arnold was named Second Team All-MAC. Campbell also scored in the 100-meter dash with a sixth place finish and time of 14.07 seconds. She totaled 14 points for the team in those three events.
Arnold, Campbell, Rebecca Hall and Artia Gunn also helped the 4x100-meter relay squad finish in fourth place with their best time of the season at 45.81 seconds. Arnold, Campbell, Hall and Kathryn Picket also combined for a time of 3:43.04 to take fourth in the 4x400. Pickett was also honored as Second Team All-MAC for finishing runner up in the heptathlon.
Junior Chiara Allen had a season-best day in the triple jump. She was able to hit 12 meters three times during the finals and finished in third place with a distance of 12.15 meters (39-10.50). WMU's junior pair of Andrea Hiler and Stephanie Negrete also scored in the discus throw. Hiler took sixth place with a distance of 48.69 meters (159-09), while Negrete threw a personal-best distance of 48.67 meters (159-08) to claim seventh.
Several Broncos now must wait for the results to pour in from around the country to see where they stand in the national rankings. Submissions for the NCAA East Regional Preliminary Championship are due on Tuesday and the entries will be announced on Thursday.
