The University of Akron Athletics
Zips Ready for MAC Indoor Track & Field Championships
February 25 | Track & Field
AKRON - The University of Akron track and field programs will travel to Central Michigan University for the annual Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships, held Feb. 26-27.
Competition begins at 10:00 am Friday with the heptathlon and pentathlon and concludes at approximately 4:30 Saturday with the running of the men's and women's 4x400 relays. (Note: Please visit Central Michigan's official athletics website for updates throughout the championships.)
The women's program will be looking for its sixth-straight MAC Indoor title. The Zips have also won each of the last four MAC Outdoor titles, giving the program nine of a possible 10 league titles since 2005. The men's program will be looking for its first MAC Indoor title, finishing second or third in each of the last three indoor championships. However, the men are the two-time defending MAC Outdoor champions.
The women have battled injuries during the indoor season, but feature a championship-tested, veteran group. Leading the way is reigning MAC Indoor and Outdoor champion Carrie Kayes, who has already earned a berth to the NCAA Indoor Championships thanks to her UA and MAC record-breaking vault of 14-1.25 this past weekend. Kayes tops the MAC top performers list in the vault (ranking sixth nationally), while sophomore Katherine Lee has posted an NCAA provisional mark of 13-1-.50 to rank third. Freshman Alexandra Wood stands seventh in the MAC with a vault of 12-5.50.
Also back are defending MAC Indoor champions Larisa Arcip and Niesha Kelly, while Alina Bocicor, Brittany Cheese, Felicia Close and Valerie Wert have all posted NCAA provisional standards this season.
Overall, Arcip is a four-time MAC Champion, winning the indoor mile twice and finishing runner-up once in her career. She has also finished among the top four in the indoor 800 in each of her first three years. Currently, she stands third in the MAC in the mile (4:53.81), while ranking fifth in the 800 (2:12.09). Kelly won the long jump at last year's MAC Indoor and she was runner-up in the triple jump. This season, she ranks third in the long jump (19-8) and she set a school record in the triple jump with a leap of 40-2.25. Lee and Cheese could be a threat in the long jump as well, recording the fourth and fifth-best leaps in school history this season.
Bocicor has posted an NCAA provisional height of 5-10 in the high jump, which ranks second in the MAC to date. She could also bolster the Zips pentathlon squad, joining NCAA provisional qualifiers Close and Cheese. The duo rank third and fourth, respectively, in the MAC and their point totals of 3,738 and 2,731 rank third and fourth on the UA all-time list. Cheese could also contend in the 60m hurdles as her time of 8.65 ranks third-best in US history.
Wert, who competed in the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships last season, is second in the MAC and 14th in the NCAA with a mark of 62-2.25 in the weight throw.
As mentioned, Akron has been hampered by some injuries on the women's side, so names like LaTalia Jones, Danielle Sidell, Cassie Schenck and Kim Lorentz - to name a few - have not shown up on the MAC top times list. However, Jones was the MAC Indoor runner-up in the 60 and 200 meters, while winning the 200 and finishing second in the 100 at last spring MAC Outdoors. Sidell was second in the 800m at last year's indoor meet and she was an NCAA regional qualifier in the steeplechase during the outdoor season. Schenck is a MAC Outdoor champion in the steeplechase, adding runner-up honors in the steeplechase and outdoor 5,000 as well as first team All-MAC honors in cross country in her career. Lorentz is also a former MAC champion, winning the outdoor 5,000, and has earned All-MAC honors in cross country as well.
Other names to watch include veterans Sediah Erskine (middle distance) and Allison Lawyer (shot put), each of whom have complied several points for the Zips with podium finishes in their previous three years.
The men's program may have experienced their best indoor season to date, featuring seven NCAA provisional qualifiers and seeing three school records fall. Also, the men have posted 13 performances that have ranked among the UA all-time top five in their respective events.
Much like the women's team, the UA men should rack up the points in the pole vault. Four-time MAC Champion and junior Mike Uhle (two indoors and two outdoors) leads the MAC with his NCAA provisional vault of 17-7.25. The vault additionally ranks ninth-best in the NCAA and is the second-best indoor vault in UA and MAC history. With a limit of just three competitors per event, the Zips will have to choose just two between a talented trio of vaulters. Sophomore Bjorn Johnasson has posted an NCAA provisional height of 17-00.75 to rank third, but may focus solely on his specialty, the heptathlon, which will be going on as the pole vault is in progress. Currently, Johansson has the second-best point total in the MAC for the heptathlon with 5,218 points. Kenny Owens and Dan Garrett are tied for fourth in the MAC, each clearing 16-4.25 this season.
Leading the heptathlon in the MAC is UA All-American Dan Kinsey. The senior has an NCAA provisional standard of 5,353 points and is the two-time MAC heptathlon champion, setting a UA record with 5,490 points in winning the event last year.
Phil Ferguson, who has an NCAA provisional mark in the 200m (21.23, and Aaron Dobson lead a strong sprint contingent. Ferguson, the reigning MAC Indoor 200 champion, ranks second in the MAC in the event (also second on the UA all-time list) and fourth in the 60. The sophomore is also the defending MAC Outdoor champion in the 100 and runner-up in the 200. Dobson currently ranks second in the MAC in the 60 and fourth in the 200. A MAC Outdoor champion in the 200, Dobson also owns the fourth-best time in the 60 in UA history, running 6.80 last season. Adding to the sprint corps are Lorenzo Brazzell, Marcus Ferguson, Takias Peoples and James Seale. Both Seale and Peoples have posted a time of 48.49 in the 400 this season, ranking fifth on the UA all-time list and fifth in the MAC this season.
In the hurdles, sophomore Tyshaun Peoples has set the UA record in the 60m hurdles four times this season. His most recent time of 7.89 is best in the MAC and an NCAA provisional mark. Peoples is the defending MAC Indoor champion Zach Harper, who has battled some injures, currently ranks fourth in the MAC in the event (8.07). The former UA record holder is a two-time runner up in the 60m hurdles and defending MAC Outdoor champion in the 110m hurdles.
Peoples is also a favorite to win the long jump. He is the reigning MAC Outdoor champion in the event and ranks second in the MAC. Also a favorite in the horizontal jumps is Collister Fahie. The Akron Firestone product leads the MAC in the triple jump (47-3.50) and was runner-up in the long jump at the MAC Indoors last season as well as runner-up in the triple jump at the MAC Outdoors.
Also posting NCAA provisional marks this season are Mike McCall and Eric Hubbard. McCall, the defending MAC Indoor and Outdoor high jump champion, cleared 7-2 in a jump off last season and ranks second in the MAC currently. Hubbard has posted an NCAA provisional mark in the weight throw (64-375) to lead the MAC. Also in the throws, senior Keith Huebner ranks fourth in the MAC in the shot put, coming off a personal-record effort of 56-3.25 last week to rank fifth on the UA all-time list.
An area the men could earn valuable points this season to help give UA its first MAC Indoor title is the middle distance races. Senior Joe Mummert set the UA record in the 800m (1:51.55) and Willie Brown posted the fifth-best time in school history in the event (1:53.63). In the mile, freshman Zachary Goulet posted the fourth-best time in UA history with a time of 4:11.86. Also look for Joe McCoy, who became just the second Zip to earn first team All-MAC in cross country this last fall, to provide points in the distance events.
