MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships On the Line for Akron

Friday, February 25

Kent, Ohio

University of Akron

Mid-American Conference Championships

MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships On the Line for Akron

February 24 | Track & Field

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MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS - MEET INFORMATION/SCHEDULE | ACCEPTED ENTRIES (PDF) | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

AKRON, Ohio - The University of Akron men's and women's track and field team will join the rest of their MAC members this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25-26, to compete at the league's Indoor Championships, as Kent State hosts the two-day event at the Kent State Field House.

UP NEXT: The Zips will compete at the league's Indoor Championships, as Kent State hosts the two-day event at the Kent State Field House on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25-26.

In all, the championship meet will feature men's teams from Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Kent State, while all 12 league members will be chasing the title on the women's side.

Live stats and a free video stream of the MAC Championships will be available at GoZips.com.

The Zips' men squad has won five of the last seven indoor team titles and eight of the last 12 MAC championships overall.

On the women's side, the Zips are seeking their seventh indoor championship and first since 2017.

Akron under the leadership of 27th-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.

In addition to a pair of MAC Championships on the line, the Zips will be competing against Kent State in the final standings for two points in the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge. The Golden Flashes lead the series 4.0-2.5 in the current standings.

MAC MEET SCHEDULE: The MAC Championships will begin at 10:45 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 25 at the Kent State Field House with the start of the men's heptathlon. That will be followed by the commencement of running events with the men's 60-meter hurdle trials at 3 p.m. and run through the women's distance medley relay at 7:15 p.m. The final day of the championship kicks off with the conclusion of the men's heptathlon at 11:30 a.m. The first running event is slated to begin at 1:15 p.m. with the men's mile, before the meet wraps up with the women's 4x400 relay at 4:40 p.m. For a complete schedule of events, log on to MAC-Sports.com. Live results (click here) will be available throughout the meet as well as live video (click 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 and 10-8-6-4-2-1 for the men.

DEFENDING THEIR TITLES: The Zips have six student-athletes seeking to repeat as individual conference champions this season.

Junior Jacqueline Pokuaah (Akron, Ohio) captured a trio of titles a season ago en route to being named the league's Most Valuable Women's Performer of the Meet. She bested the field in the women's 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.59, while also soaring past the competition in the women's long jump (19-11/6.07m) and triple jump (40-9/12.42m) to garner her first three conference titles of her career.

Senior Hesham Eldesouky (Nasr City, Egypt) was a double-winner for the Zips triumphing in the men's long jump (24-1.50/7.35m) and triple jump (51-10.50/15.81m).

Sophomore Zarik Brown (Dayton, Ohio) won the men's 400 meters in a time of 47.71, while sophomore Blake Lucius (Crestline, Ohio) crossed the line first in the men's 800 meters in 1:53.75.

Freshman Hunter Garretson (Newcomerstown, Ohio) eclipsed 17-9.75 (5.43m) to post the victory in the men's pole vault, while junior Kyra Keurentjes (Wehl, The Netherlands) won the women's 800 meters in a time of 2:12.08.

Additionally, redshirt sophomore Charles Sanders (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Brown return from the victorious men's 4x400 relay squad.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The University of Akron track and field teams have garnered recognition for their efforts during the 2022 indoor season as the Zips are rated in the Event Squad rankings released on Feb. 21, 2022, as part of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Rating Index.

Akron ranks 12th nationally in the women's pole vault as well as rating among the top 20 in five different events.

The Zips also rated 13th in the men's triple jump, 16th in the men's 400 meters and in the men's weight throw and 18th in the men's long jump.

The Akron men and women are ranked eighth, respectively, in the Great Lakes Regional polls.

ZIPS RANK AMONG NATION'S BEST IN 2022 TFRRS RANKINGS: Akron has a pair of student-athletes currently ranked in the top-30 nationally by the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) during the 2022 indoor campaign, including, Jacqueline Pokuaah, who is 23rd in the nation in the women's triple jump (43-0.25/13.11m).

Also rated among the top-30 is Zarik Brown (29th in the men's 400 meters – 46.72).

CRACKING THE ALL-TIME TOP-FIVE PERFORMANCES: The Zips have posted 16 marks that rank among the top-five performances in program history this season.

NAME	EVENT/DATE	RANK – MARK
Fegor Clifford	Women's Triple Jump – Jan. 14	No. 5 – 40-3.50 (12.28m)
Charles Sanders	Men's 400 Meters – Jan. 14	No. 5 – 47.10
Zarik Brown	Men's 400 Meters – Jan. 21	No. 2 – 46.72
Jacqueline Pokuaah	Women's Triple Jump – Jan. 21	No. 3 – 41-4.25 (12.60m)
Jacob Ondash	Men's Mile – Jan. 29	No. 2 – 4:04.45
Zarik Brown	Men's 60 Meters – Jan. 29	No. 3 – 6.70
Blake Lucius	Men's 800 Meters – Jan. 29	No. 5 – 1:50.58
Milton Wilson	Men's Weight Throw - Feb. 5	No. 1 - 69-0.50 (21.04m)
Hannah Long, Varvara Lissichkina Makenna Heimlich Beth Arentz	Women's DMR - Feb. 4	No. 1 - 11:33.91
Amya Clarke	Women's 60 Meters - Feb. 5	No. 2 - 7.44
Jacob Ondash	Men's 3,000 Meters - Feb. 5	No. 3 - 8:11.99
Charles Sanders	Men's 400 Meters - Feb. 5	No. 5 - 47.08
Jacqueline Pokuaah	Women's Triple Jump - Feb. 12	No. 1 - 43-0.25/13.11m
Blake Lucius	Men's 800 Meters - Feb. 11	No. 4 - 1:48.93
Hannah Long	Women's Mile - Feb. 11	No. 5 - 4:50.45
Fegor Clifford	Women's 400 Meters - Feb. 12	No. 5 - 55.53

A WEEK AGO: In its final tune-up before next week's Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, Akron captured nine events as part of 25 overall top-three finishes at the Al Campbell Invitational on Feb. 18 at the Stile Athletics Field House.

For Al Campbell Invitational recap (click here)

AKRON HONORED 19 ZIPS ON SENIOR NIGHT: Akron honored 19 student-athletes competing in their final indoor meet as a Zip throughout the Al Campbell Invitational on Feb. 18, including a special Senior Night recognition before the start of the meet.

Those Zips being honored include; junior Zoi Balamouti (Heraklion, Greece), Hesham Eldesouky, junior Sara Foster (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio), senior Tyler Grine (Fremont, Ohio), junior Lizzy Gurko (Northfield, Ohio), redshirt juniors Jacob Hutcherson (Uniontown, Ohio) and Ryan Kilhoffer (Johnsonburg, Pa.), sophomore Sophia Leto (Mt. Orab, Ohio), seniors Varvara Lissichkina (Karaganda, Kazahkstan), Hannah Long, Jacob Ondash (Hiram, Ohio) and Matthew Perison (Kent, Ohio), junior Kassandra Roemer (Kaiserlautern, Germany), seniors Jace Roundtree (Vandergrift, Pa.), Lindsey Scarton (Berea, Ohio), Jayce Shaffer (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Alyssa Thomas (Green, Ohio), redshirt junior Milton Wilson (Streetsboro, Ohio) and junior Carlyn Zahner (North East, Pa.).

ALL-MAC PERFORMERS (First-Team All-MAC/Second-Team All-MAC): Below is a listed on first- and second-place performances at the Mid-American Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the current members of the Zips' squad.

Zarik Brown (3/1) - Indoor: 4x400 Relay - 2021 (1st-3:18.19), 2020 (1st-3:07.89); Indoor: 400 meters - 2021 (1st-47.71), 2020 (2nd-46.86); Jacqueline Pokuaah (3/1) - Indoor: 60-Meter Hurdles - 2021 (1st-8.59); Triple Jump - 2021 (1st-40-9/12.42m); Long Jump: 2021 (1st-19-11/6.07m); Outdoor: Triple Jump - 2021 (2nd-41-0.50/12.51m); Hesham Eldesouky (3/0) - Indoor: Triple Jump - 2021 (1st-51-10.50/15.81m), 2019 (1st-52-6/16.00m); Long Jump - 2021 (1st-24-1.50/7.35m); Sara Foster (2/1) - Indoor: Pentathlon - 2021 (2nd-3,540), 2020 (1st-3,645); Outdoor: Heptathlon - 2019 (1st-4,808); Charles Sanders (2/1) - Indoor: 4x400 Relay - 2021 (1st-3:18.19); Outdoor: 400 Meters - 2021; 4x100 Relay - 2021 (2nd-40.74); Nuh Andu (1/3) - Indoor: High Jump - 2021 (2nd- 7-2.25/2.19m), 2020 (1st-6-11/2.11m), 2019 (2nd-6-11.50/2.12m); Outdoor: High Jump - 2021 (2nd-6-10.75/2.10m); Kyra Keurentjes (1/1) - Indoor: 800 Meters - 2021 (1st-2:12.08); Outdoor: 800 Meters - 2021 (2nd-2:08.46); Dimitrije Novakovic (1/1) - Indoor: Long Jump - 2021 (2nd-23-9/7.24m); Outdoor: Long Jump - 2021 - (1st-24-4.50/7.43m); Amya Clarke (1/0) - Outdoor: 100 Meters - 2021 (11.68); Hunter Garretson (1/0) - Indoor: Pole Vault - 2021 (1st-17-9.75/5.43m); William Gross (1/0) - Outdoor: Hammer - 2021 (1st-219-9/66.98m); Jimmy Harkelroad (1/0) - Outdoor: 400-Meter Hurdles - (1st-51.87); Blake Lucius (1/0) - Indoor: 800 Meters - 2021 (1st-1:53.75); Lindsey Scarton (1/0) - Indoor: DMR - 2019 (1st-11:37.61); Jace Roundtree (0/2) - Indoor: 60-Meter Hurdles - 2020 (2nd-8.06); Outdoor: 4x100 Relay - (2nd-40.74); Robert Artrip (0/1) - Outdoor: Pole Vault - 2021 (2nd-16-7.25/5.06m); Fegor Clifford (0/1) - Outdoor: 400-Meter Hurdles - 2021 (2nd-58.90); Varvara Lissichkina (0/1) - Indoor: 800 Meters - 2020 (2nd-2:08.66); Jacob Ondash (0/1) - Indoor: DMR - 2019 (2nd-10:06.82); Jayce Shaffer (0/1) - Outdoor: 4x100 Relay - (2nd-40.74)

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