Track Ready To Run Down Titles At 2014 MAC Outdoor Championships

May 14 | Track & Field

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2014 MAC Outdoor Championships Central | Heat Sheets (PDF) | Event Schedule (PDF)

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron track and field program will head to Athens, Ohio, this weekend in search of men's and women's titles at the 2014 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships, hosted by Ohio University.

The Zips men's team, which captured the 2014 MAC Indoor Championship last February, will be looking to secure their fourth consecutive outdoor crown while the women will be seeking to unseat defending champion Kent State for their first team championship since 2009.

The three-day meet will be held from Thursday, May 15, to Saturday, May 17, at Goldsberry Track. This weekend's competition will also help determine the winner of the third-annual PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge. Kent State currently holds a slim 6.5-5.5 lead over Akron with one point available each for Baseball, Men's Track and Women's Track.

The Zips became the first men's program to win three consecutive MAC Outdoor Championships in the league since 1999 at last year's championship meet. UA is poised to score high again this spring with five athletes ranked No. 1 in the conference in their respective diciplines – including defending outdoor champions Shawn Barber (pole vault) and Alex McCune (decathlon) – and several more seeded in the top three.

Additionally, Martel Durant returns after sweeping the league's indoor and outdoor high jump titles a year ago and 2014 MAC Indoor Champions Kyle Cochrun (3K, 5K), Jake Hiltner (800-meters) and Clayton Murphy (mile) will be looking to continue momentum gained last winter. As the leader of the Zips distance team, Cochrun was named the Most Valuable Performer as the meet's highest point earner (20 points).

The Zips women's team has finished runner-up to Kent State at each of the last two conference meets. But there is reason to believe things may be different this this weekend as UA features three athletes ranked No. 1 in their events – including Daziah Green (200-meters), Annika Roloff (pole vault; 14-05.50) and Weronika Gaudyn (triple jump) – as well as the top 4x100 relay team in Rachel Christian, Desiree Garland, Daniella Johnson and Green.

Furthermore, the Zips feature five athletes seeded second in six events, led by Skyler Willis, who has the second-best mark in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles.

UA is projected to score especially well in the pole vault and throws events. Led by Roloff, Akron athletes own the top three seeds in the pole vault while Alexis Cooks, the two-time defending conference champion in the discus, figures to feature prominently in the scoring again this year as a top-three seed for three events (discus, shot put and hammer).

Competition begins at 10:30 a.m. Thursday with the women's hammer, followed by the start of the multi-events, men's pole vault, men's hammer and women's javelin. The lone running event of the day – the men's and women's 10K – will begin at 8:15 p.m.

Preliminary heats for most running events will dominate the action Friday, which begins with the men's decathlon at 10 a.m., and continues with a number of field events – including the men's and women's long jump, men's javelin, and men's and women's shot put. Just one final will be determined on the oval on the second day with the men's and women's 3,000-meter steeplechase being contested late in the afternoon.

Team champions will be crowned Saturday with a full slate of action starting at 10:30 a.m. For more information and a complete schedule of events, log on to MAC-Sports.com.