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OXFORD, Ohio (May 14) - Friday at the Mid-American Conference Track & Field Championships was moving day, as teams attempted to qualify as many athletes as possible for Saturday's finals. With the meet two-thirds complete, both the Western Michigan men's and women's teams remain in the middle of the pack.
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The Bronco men stand fifth and the women eighth heading into the final day of action. Eastern Michigan leads the men's competition with 49 points, followed by Akron (42), Kent State (38), Miami (36), WMU (28), Central Michigan (28), Buffalo (25), Ball State (23) and Ohio (4). On the women's side, Ball State leads with 48 points, ahead of Central Michigan (45), Kent State (44), Akron (38.5), Miami (37), Buffalo (28), Bowling Green (22), WMU (15), Eastern Michigan (14.5), Toledo (11), Northern Ilinois (7), Marshall (2) and Ohio (0).
WMU's men earned valuable points in the field and the multi-events. Tom Torchia claimed eight points with a runner-up finish in the javelin. His toss of 200'-5" (61.10 meters) was a team season-best mark.
Clark Wilson claimed third place in the shot put with a season-best mark of 56'-3.75" (17.16m) while Jacob Friess finished third in the decathlon, accumulating 6,843 points. Redshirt freshman Kyle Shaw placed sixth with 6,651 points.
WMU's other points on the day came from Chris Stine's sixth-place showing in the steeplechase (9:13.69) and Elvin Frempong's eighth-place finish in the long jump (23'-2"/7.06m).
The Broncos also qualified a number of athletes for Saturday's final, including four entrants in the hurdles (two in the 100m hurdles, two in the 400m hurdles) along with securing two spots in the 800 meter run. Darius Johnson will represent WMU in the meet's premier event, the 100 meter dash.
"Overall, we had a pretty decent day," said coach Mike Turk. "We got some of the points we needed and qualified a number of guys that we had to get in."
The Bronco women advanced several athletes into Saturday's finals. Kelly Lycan's squad placed three runners in the 400 meter race and three in the 800 meter run. Krisy Mahome won her 400m heat with a season-best time of 54.44. WMU will also have two competitors in the 1,500 meter run.
At the same time, WMU picked up six points in the heptathlon, as freshman Katie Pickette finished third with 4,808 points. Rachael Lowe earned the team's other point with an eighth-place finish in the steeplechase (11:12.94).
"Katie Pickette is going to be a great heptathlete for us, prior to this year she had never competed in four of the seven events and here she finishes third in her first MAC meet," said Lycan. "We did what we had to today to put us in position for tomorrow. The hard part should be out of the way, now all we have to worry about is competing."
NOTES: Saturday's action begins at 10:30 a.m. with the final event scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ... Janaule Bennett will double up tomorrow as she competes in the 400 and 800 meter events in addition to a possible 4x400 meter relay assignment.
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