Akron Track Visits Kent State for Dual Meet

January 21 | Track & Field

AKRON - The annual Akron-Kent State dual track & field meet will be held this Friday (Jan. 21) at 7 pm in the KSU Fieldhouse.

Akron's women, winners of the last five Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships, have not lost to rival Kent State since the two began their dual meet series. On the flip side, Akron's men, reigning MAC Outdoor Champions, have yet to defeat Kent State's men, reigning MAC Indoor Champions, in the dual meet format. Last year, the men's margin was just one point in the Golden Flashes favor, while KSU won by just five two years ago at the KSU Fieldhouse.

This year's meet has Akron limping into the contest, battling several injuries. However, The Zips do have an NCAA automatic qualifier for the 2010 Indoor Championships, Carrie Kayes in the pole vault, as well as three NCAA provisional qualifiers; Katherine Lee in the pole vault, Alina Bocicor in the high jump and Valerie Wert in the weight throw.

Other areas the Zips own the advantage over Kent State includes the 200m, mile, long & triple jumps.

Seanlay Bell has the best time in the MAC for the 200 (24.35), while having the seventh-best time in the 60. Senior Larisa Arcip is the reigning MAC Indoor mile champion and currently has the MAC's fifth-best time in the event to date this season, while ranking fourth in the league in the 3,000. Senior Niesha Kelly, who set a UA indoor record in the triple jump last week, owns the league's best distances in both the long and triple jumps, while Lee, Felicia Close and Brittany Cheese rank among the MAC's top 10 in the long jump. In the pole vault, in addition to Kayes and Lee ranking 1-2, UA freshman Alexandra Wood ranks fifth in the league.

The shot put and weight throw will be tight battles with Kent State's Samatha Fetter and Akron's Allison Lawyer ranking 2-3 in the MAC in the shot, while UA's Wert and KSU's Effua Ampadu rank 2-3 in the weight.

For the men, Akron currently has the league's top performer in five events - with Kent State having four, while, in other events, Akron leads Kent State in four additional events.

Headling the list for Akron is the Zips' pole vault crew, who own the MAC's top three spots. Junior Mike Uhle, an NCAA provisional qualifier and two-time MAC Indoor champion, tops the chart with a clearance of 17-0.50, followed by teammates Dan Garrett and Kenny Owens, each clearing 16-6.75 this season. Reigning MAC Track Performer of the Week Tyshaun People sits stop the MAC lists in the 60m-hurldes with his school-record time of 8.01, while having the MAC's best distance in the long jump (23-4.75).

The 60m promises to be an exciting race as Akron's Aaron Dobson, Kent State's Princeton Bryson and UA's Phil Ferguson rank among the league's top four with only three one-hundredths separating the trio. Ferguson, the reigning MAC 200 Indoor champion, leads the MAC in the event (21.37), followed by KSU's Bryson. In the 400, Takias Peoples tops the league's list in the 400, followed closely by KSU's Curtis Eaton. Also, as has been the case each of the last two years, the meet may well come down to the meet's final race, the 4x400 relay, with KSU and Akron ranking 1-2 in the league. The men's weight throw will also be a stiff competition with UA's Eric Hubbard and KSU's Anthony Connor, ranking 2-3 in the event, while UA senior Keith Huebner is one of four to throw over 55 feet in the shot put and he is the top performer among the two teams in the event.