Women's Track & Field | January 07, 2017
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan track and field team claimed nine event titles along the way to defending its home turf with an 81-58 win over Ball State at Read Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon.
WMU won the shot put, triple jump, long jump, 3,000-meter run, mile run, 800-meter run, 400-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x400-meter relay.
"I thought we had some really good competitive efforts," said head coach Kelly Lycan. "There were a couple of races where we fell behind early and we came back to get some victories. It's always a struggle in the first meet. Everyone is coming off of break and we had only about two days of practice. These first meets are all about shaking off the rust, so we aren't worried about marks just beating the other team and we did that. "
Redshirt freshman middle distance runner Sarah Anderson won both the mile run and the 800 to earn 10 total points for the Broncos. In the mile run she ran a time of 5:07.94, while teammate Holly Blowers took third overall to score two points with a time of 5:15.63. Anderson ran a time of 2:20.60 in the 800 and Blowers once again scored for WMU after finishing with a time of 2:22.63, just .01 out of third place.
"That girl is going to have a great season," said Lycan on Anderson's performance. "We anticipated her with a chance to be good at the middle distances after running mostly the 400 and 800 in high school. She took to the longer distances like a duck to water and was one of our top cross country runners. She looked great in the mile and then had a short turnaround to come back in the 800 and she looked very good at the end of the race. "
In the 200-meter dash Sarita Dotson claimed first place with a time of 25.28 seconds, just ahead of teammate Madison Meredith. WMU also took the top two scoring spots in the 400-meter dash. Ayiana Gaines dominated the race, winning by over 1.50 seconds after running a time of 57.55. Davonne Bolden took second with a time of 59.38.
Junior Hanne Christensen took first place in the 3,000-meter run, beating the competition by over 10 seconds at 10:35.12. The Grand Blanc, Mich., native bested BSU's second-place Stephanie McElhaney after she ran a time of 10:45.65. Sydney Del Valle was WMU's second scorer in the event with a time of 10:56.99.
Savannah Dugan claimed the top spot in the shot put after throwing a distance of 41-9.50. Lindsey Hufnagel took first in the long jump after reaching a distance of 18-0.25. Kaniya Weatherspoon finished just behind her at 17-9. In the triple jump it was senior Jade McKnight claiming the title after jumping 35-6.50. Freshman Gabby Collins took second place after jumping 37-7.50.
WMU also took first place in the 4x400-meter relay after combining for a time of 3:54.33.
Western Michigan heads to the University of Illinois for the Illini Classic on Jan. 14.
