The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
MAC Indoor Championships
Men Pacing The Pack, Women in Second At MAC Indoor Championships
February 22 | Track & Field
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2013 MAC Indoor Championships Central | Live Results
Day 1 Results (PDF)
YPSILANTI, Mich. – The University of Akron track and field team produced a pair of event winners and saw a school record go down during an exciting first day of the 2013 Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships Friday night at Bowen Field House.
Headlining the list of impressive individual performances, Brittany Cheese took gold in the women's pentathlon – scoring 3,963 points over the five events – and Tyshaun Peoples captured his fifth men's long jump title overall and third indoor crown in four seasons with a winning mark of 24-08.25. To top it all off, Kyle Cochrun broke his own program record in the 5,000-meters with a time of 14:38.94 in a spirited third-place finish.
As a team, the Zips men finished the day in first place with 52 points. The host Eastern Michigan Eagles sit second with 43 points, followed by Kent State (35), Buffalo (32) and Central Michigan (27).
Fueled by their fast start, Akron's women are currently in second place with 42 points, 16 behind front-runner Kent State. Toledo is in third place with 29 points, followed by Western Michigan (23), Eastern Michigan (22.5), Miami (21.5), Buffalo (18), Ohio (12), Central Michigan (7) and Northern Illinois (1).
Cheese took control in the first pentathlon event of the day – winning the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.53, which is second fastest in school history – and never looked back. In leading wire-to-wire, the senior tallied the third-highest point total in the history of the program and became the first Zip to win the event since Mary Varga claimed back-to-back indoor pentathlon titles in 2001 and 2002.
Fellow multi-event teammate Skyler Willis was also up to the task Friday night in winning the high jump (5-07.75) and finishing runner-up in the 800-meters (2:19.98). Both marks represented personal bests for the sophomore, who placed fourth overall in the penathlon with 3,843 points. Her total is fourth-best on the Zips' all-time list.
Cheese also teammed up with teammate Katherine Lee for eight points in the women's long jump. Lee placed fourth with a mark of 19-04.25 and Cheese grabbed sxith place following a leap of 19-03.25.
The Akron women also dominated the pole vault competition, finishing 2-3-4 for a total of 19 points. Leading the way was Ariane Beaumont-Courteau, who jumped 13-06.50 in a runner-up finish. She was followed by Chelsey Detwiler, who established a career best by jumping 13-02.50, and Claire Lucas, who cleared 13-02.50.
Fueling the men's side, Nick Banke and Casey Slane combined for nine points in the shot put. Defending his 2012 title, Banke finished runner-up to Buffalo's Jonathan Jones despite a season-high throw of 57-04.75. Banke was a bit unlucky as Jones set a championship meet record with a huge toss of 64-03.25. Meanwhile, Slane took eighth place with a personal-record mark of 53-00.00.
In addition to Peoples' 10 points in the long jump, freshman De'Vion Tate jumped 23-00.00 to earn a sixth-place finish and three additional points for the Zips. To cap off a strong first day, the men also picked up six points in the DMR with a collective time of 10:05.82.
Moreover, they are in good position to sustain their lead with nine qualifiers through to Saturday's finals in five events. Further, Alex McCune and Bryan Jones sit in second and third place, respectively, and Bjorn Johansson in seventh heading into to the conclusion of Saturday's heptathlon.
The Zips sent three through to the finals in the 60-meter dash alone, including Bryce Cheek (6.81), Malachi Freeman (6.82) and Vince Turnage Jr. (6.95), who each posted personal-best times. It was a particularly good day for Cheek, who also punched his ticket through to the 200-meter final after running 22.07.
Other qualifiers on the men's side were Nick Owens (48.96) and Julius Ruby Jr. (49.68) in the 400-meters, Gabriel Genovesi (1:54.48) and Jake Hiltner (1:54.67) in the 800-meters, and Peoples (8.00) and Kyle Walker (8.16) in the 60-meter hurdles.
Conversely, the Zips sent three women to Saturday's final rounds, including Rachel Christian, who qualified for the 60-meters (7.58) and 200-meters (24.93), and Kayla Whitlow, who will represent the Zips in the 800-meters after running 2:13.52 in the preliminary round.
The second and final day of the MAC Indoor Championship opens with the conclusion of the men's heptathlon and weight throw at 10 a.m. The first running event begins at 1:15 p.m. with the women's mile. For a complete schedule of events, visit MAC-Sports.com. Live results will be available throughout the meet, courtesy of EMU Athletics.
The two-time defending MAC Indoor champion Zips men's team is looking to secure its third consecutive team title – and fifth consecutive MAC championship overall – while the women are aiming to unseat the Golden Flashes, who cruised to the team title in 2012.
RESULTS – MAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Feb. 22, 2013 | Eastern Michigan University | Bowen Field House | Ypsilanti, Mich.
MEN'S TEAM SCORES (points)
1. Akron (52), 2. Eastern Michigan (43), 3. Kent State (35), 4. Buffalo (32), 5. Central Michigan (27).
MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (points)
60m (prelim): 1. Bryce Cheek, 6.81 (q), 3. Malachi Freeman, 6.82 (q), 7. Vince Turnage Jr., 6.95 (q); 200m (prelim): 6. Cheek, 22.07 (q), 9. Turnage, 22.24; 400m (prelim): 5. Nick Owens, 48.96 (q), 8. Julius Ruby Jr., 49.68 (q), 12. J'Lani Pryce, 50.66; 800m (prelim): 1. Gabriel Genovesi, 1:54.48 (q), 3. Jake Hiltner, 1:54.67 (q); 5,000m: 3. Kyle Cochrun, 14:38.94 (6); 60m Hurdles (prelim): 1. Tyshaun Peoples, 8.00 (q), 5. Kyle Walker, 8.16 (q); DMR: 3. Akron, 10:05.82 (6); Long Jump: 1. Tyshaun Peoples, 24-08.25 (10), 6. De'Vion Tate, 23-00.00 (3), 13. Darien Spann, 21-02.75; Shot Put: 2. Nick Banke, 57-04.75 (8), 8. Casey Slane, 53-00.00 (1).
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES (points)
1. Kent State (58), 2. Akron (42), 3. Toledo (29), 4. Western Michigan (23), 5. Eastern Michigan (22.5), 6. Miami (21.5), 7. Buffalo (18), 8. Ohio (12), 9. Central Michigan (7), 10. Northern Illinois (1).
WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (points)
60m (prelim): 5. Rachel Christian, 7.58 (q); 200m (prelim): 8. Christian, 24.93 (q); 800m (prelim): 5. Kayla Whitlow, 2:13.52 (q), 16. Karlie Lieberth, 2:17.46; 60m Hurdles (prelim): 11. Brittany Cheese, 8.84, 12. Alex Allen, 8.87; DMR: 9. Akron, 12:10.77; Pole Vault: 2. Ariane Beaumont-Courteau, 13-06.50 (8), 3. Chelsey Detwiler, 13-02.50 (6), 4. Claire Lucas, 13-02.50 (5); Pentathlon: 1. Brittany Cheese, 3,963 (10), 4. Skyler Willis, 3,843 (5).
