KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan track and field team is sending four athletes to the NCAA East Preliminaries, which is set to take place on May 23 & 25 in Lexington, Ky. This marks the first time since 2019 that the Broncos have had multiple athletes going to the regional meet.
Sandra Ferrari,
Mabinty Kebe,
Bri'Yanna Robinson and
Kayla Schiera all qualified for the regional event by having a top-48 mark in their respective events. Ferrari will take part in the long jump, Kebe is competing in the 400-meter hurdles, Robinson will take on the field in the shot put and Schiera will race in the 3K steeplechase.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
The Broncos were outstanding at the MAC Championships a couple weeks ago, headlined by a pair of individual MAC Champions. First,
Kayla Schiera won the 3K steeplechase by more than 13 seconds to get the first title of the weekend. She broke the school record and was one second off of the meet record. She has a top-20 time in the NCAA this season.
Mabinty Kebe claimed the other championship for the Broncos, dominating the field in the 400-meter hurdles. She won the race by more than a second and was the only runner to finish under one minute. Her time of 59.12 moved to No. 10 in program history and is a top-50 time in the region.
ALL-MAC PERFORMERS
For the first time since 2019, WMU had multiple All-MAC performers. Last week, the league announced
Kayla Schiera,
Mabinty Kebe and
Sandra Ferrari to the All-Conference Team with Schiera and Kebe landing on the First Team and Ferrari collecting Second Team honors.
Schiera and Kebe both won individual MAC Championships, while Ferrari was the runner-up in her two events. Schiera won the 3K steeplechase and finished fourth in the 5K, while Kebe won the 400-meter hurdles and claimed fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. Ferrari was second in both the long jump and 100-meter hurdles.
ON THE RISE
Western Michigan has started to transform into a strong track and field program over the last year. At the MAC Championships a couple weeks ago, the Broncos finished fifth, which was the team's highest finish since 2014. Furthermore, the Brown and Gold scored more points this season than they did the past three years combined.
Along with that, WMU is sending four student-athletes to the regional meet for the first time since 2019. The Broncos also had three All-MAC performers for the first time in five years.
GETTING IT DONE IN THE CLASSROOM
The Western Michigan track and field team hasn't just been producing athletic results, as the group posted one of the best team GPA's in the entire athletic department. For the spring semester, the Broncos earned a program-record 3.70 grade-point average, including nine student athletes with a 4.0 GPA. Furthermore, 25 members of the team were able to produce a 3.5 GPA or better.
