The University of Akron Athletics
Track Set To Compete At 2014 MAC Indoor Championships
February 26 | Track & Field
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2014 MAC Indoor Championship Central: Schedule of Events (PDF) | Heat Sheets (PDF)
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron track and field team will join the rest of their Mid-American Conference members this Friday and Saturday to compete at the league's Indoor Championships, hosted by Kent State University.
In all, the championship meet will feature men's teams from Akron, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Kent State while all 12 league members will be gunning for the title on the women's side.
Single-day passes are $10 for an adult and $5 for youth (ages 3-12). An all-session pass (both days) is $15 for adults and $8 for youth. Students with MAC institution ID's will be admitted into the event for $2. For more ticket information, call the Kent State Ticket Office at (330) 672-2244.
The Zips men, who have won two of the last three indoor team titles and five of the last six MAC championships overall, will be looking to unseat defending champ Eastern Michigan in what projects to be a tight race with Kent State also in the mix. On the women's side, the Zips will aim to snap the Golden Flashes' run of back-to-back indoor titles after KSU ran away with the crown in Ypsilanti, Mich., a year ago.
Akron figures to be in the running for team titles on both the men's and women's sides again this year. The Zips men are the top-ranked MAC school in the Great Lakes Region – and No. 2 overall behind Wisconsin – while the women are ranked No. 20 in the nation according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), just one spot better than No. 21 Kent State. The Zips and Golden Flashes are the only MAC schools represented in the USTFCCCA top 25 for either gender.
The Zips men have four athletes leading their respective events heading into the conference meet, including school record-holder Shawn Barber in the pole vault (18-06.75), school record-holder Kyle Cochrun in the 3,000-meters (8:06.22) and 5,000-meters (14:16.99), Jake Hiltner in the 800-meters (1:49.05) and Bryan Jones in the heptathlon (5,437). Hiltner is also a member of the Zips' top-seeded 4x400 relay (3:11.62) and DMR (10:06.92) teams.
A trio of Zips women enter the meet as the top seed – including Brittany Funk in the weight throw (71-05.25), school-record holder Weronika Gaudyn in the triple jump (42-07.50) and school record-holder Annika Roloff in the pole vault (14-03.50).
The UA men's team also features four defending MAC indoor champions in Barber, Martel Durant (high jump), Gabriel Genovesi (800m) and Alex McCune (heptathlon). McCune, who swept the conference multi-event titles in 2013 and is currently the No. 2-ranked heptathlete in the country this winter, will be competing in the 60-meter hurdles (8.02), pole vault (17-06.50) and long jump (23-08.00).
The MAC meet begins at 10 a.m. in Kent State Field House Friday with the start of the men's heptathlon and the women's weight throw finals, followed by the commencement of the women's pentathlon shortly after at 10:15 a.m. The running events will begin at 3 p.m. with the men's 60-meter hurdle prelims. The women's DMR is the final running event scheduled for the day and will start at 6:55 p.m.
The second and final day opens with the conclusion of the multi-events at 10 a.m. The first running event will begin at 1:15 p.m. with the men's mile. For a complete schedule of events, log on to MAC-Sports.com. Live results will be available throughout the meet and posted here.
Scoring in the meet will be on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for individual events and relays for the women. Men's scoring will be 10-8-6-4-2-1 for individual events and 10-8-6-4-2 for relays.
Zips MAC Indoor Championships History
Men's Team Titles (2)
2011, 2012
Women's Team Titles (5)
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
