The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
Akron Set to Host MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships
February 25 | Track & Field
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AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron men's and women's track and field team will join the rest of their Mid-American Conference members this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26-27, to compete at the league's Indoor Championships, as the Zips host the two-day event at the Stile Athletics Field House.
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-session tickets are available at the door for $10 (cash only) for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-14). All-session passes are $15 for adults and $8 for youth. Akron and other Mid-American Conference institution students with valid ID will be admitted for $3 per sesssion. All fans should enter through the Akron student recreation center main entrance.
Live stats and a free video stream of the MAC Championships will be available at GoZips.com.
The Zips' men squad has won four of the last five indoor team titles and seven of the last 10 MAC championships overall, and will be looking to capture back-to-back-to-back titles for the first time in program history.
On the women's side, the Zips are seeking their sixth indoor championship and first since 2009. Akron narrowly missed earning the crown last year falling three points shy of eventual champion Eastern Michigan.
Akron under the leadership of 21st-year head coach Dennis Mitchell figures to be in the running for team titles on both the men's and women's sides again this year. The Zips' women's squad owns a No. 21 national ranking in the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I National Team Computer Rankings released on Monday, Feb. 22. The Zips' men's team is rated 34th.
Additionally, the Akron men's and women's squads finished the indoor campaign ranked fourth and ninth, respectively, in the final men's and women's collegiate dual meet rankings of 2016, as compiled by Jesse Squire for Track and Field News.
The men have four student-athletes seeking to repeat as conference champions this season as junior Clayton Murphy (New Paris, Ohio) took home titles in the 800 meters (1:53.10) and mile (4:09.09) races in 2015, while redshirt senior Brent Gray (Cincinnati, Ohio) won the men's 400 meters (49.23).
Additionally, three members of the winning 4x400 relay return in junior Miles Baldwin (Cincinnati, Ohio), redshirt junior Mike Ohiembor (Dayton, Ohio) and Gray are back to defend their title.
In the women's field, senior Claudia Garcia Jou (Barcelona, Spain) is the defending champion in the high jump.
The Zips men have six athletes and two relay squads leading their respective events heading into the conference meet, including Murphy in the 800 meters (1:46.13) and mile (3:57.11), freshmen Curtis Richardson (Blacklick, Ohio) and Cody Stine (Shelby, Ohio) in the high jump (7-0.50), junior Matt Rowland (Bellevue, Ohio) in the pole vault (17-4.50), sophomore Terrell McClain (Youngstown, Ohio) in the long jump (25-0) and senior Alex McCune (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in the heptathlon (5,681).
Additionally, the 4x400 relay team of Baldwin, Gray, redshirt junior Alante Oliver (Dayton, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Taron Slone (Columbus, Ohio) and the distance medley relay squad of junior Dan Zupan (Berea, Ohio), Baldwin, sophomore Garrett Crichlow (Twinsburg, Ohio) and Murphy own league-best times of 3:11.17 and 9:42.42, respectively.
On the women's side, five Akron student-athletes across six events enter the meet as the top seed – including Cooks in the shot put (56-8.75) and weight throw (69-0), Garcia Jou in the high jump (6-2), junior Daniella Johnson (Gahanna, Ohio) in the long jump (20-9), sophomore Jackie Siefring (Covington, Ohio) in the pentathlon (4,089) and redshirt junior Natalie Zidd (Hinckley, Ohio) in the 800 meters (2:09.52).
Akron currently has nine student-athletes ranked in the top-25 nationally by the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS), including Garcia Jou, who owns the top mark nationally in the women's high jump (6-2).
Also rated among the top-25 is Murphy (second in the 800 meters/1:46.13 and fifth in mile/3:57.11), Cooks (fifth in shot put/56-8.75 and 12th in weight throw/69-0), McCune (10th in heptathlon/5,681), Johnson (15th in long jump/20-9), Siefring (15th in pentathlon/4,089), Ohiembor (17th in triple jump/52-5.25), redshirt junior Quentin Cieslinski (Madison, Ohio) (19th in heptathlon/5,536) and Rowland (24th in pole vault/17-4.50).
The MAC meet begins at 11 a.m. at the Stile Athletics Field House on Friday, Feb. 26, with the start of the men's heptathlon, followed by the commencement of the women's pentathlon shortly after at 11:30 a.m. The running events will begin at 2 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 5:45 p.m.
The second and final day opens with the conclusion of the multi-events at 10 a.m. The first running event is slated to begin at 1:30 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 at GoZips.com.
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.
