The Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Mid-American Conference Championships will be held today and tomorrow at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. On one side we might see a dynasty continue, while on the other side, the title is up in the air.
On the men's side, the Eastern Michigan Eagles are looking to win their eighth consecutive MAC indoor championship. For the women's competition, the Central Michigan Chippewas are looking to win their second in a row after last year's record-setting performance when they set six school records.
UB's teams would have to be considered long shots after the men were picked to finish eighth in the MAC Indoor Track Pre-season Coaches' Poll, and the women were picked to finish 10th.
The Ball State Cardinals women's team is the favorite to win the championship after being upset by Central Michigan last year. Ball State won the year before and won three in a row from 1996-98. They are coming off a victory Saturday at home in a tri-meet over Western Michigan and Miami (Ohio).
In the 2002 MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, Ball State finished third, with a score of 97, falling four points short of second place Eastern Michigan (101) and 25 points shy of MAC Champion Central Michigan (122).
Ball State did not go away empty handed, however, posting several top performances in both the running and field events. Katie Novak was named the MVP of the championship when she finished third in the 3000-meter run, second in the mile run, and won the MAC title in the 5000-meter run. Another name to look for is Patricia Soman, who finished first in the long jump and triple jump in the tri-meet Saturday.
For the men, Eastern Michigan looks to continue its dynasty, looking for their eighth MAC title in a row. They are expected to get tough competition from the other two Michigan schools, Central and Western, as those two teams were picked second and third respectively in the MAC Pre-season Championship Poll.
Central Michigan coach Jim Knapp believes Eastern Michigan is good, but that his team can compete.
"We know that Eastern Michigan was a pre-season favorite, and is still the favorite," Knapp said. "It's amazing that Eastern and us are probably as good as we have ever been. This might be the best team we have ever had and we are not even the top team."
Western Michigan first-year head coach Mike Turk will try to take his 23rd ranked national team all the way in the MAC. His team has earned a pair of school records this year and has three different runners, placing an athlete in seven different events.
UB's top men's and women's indoor track and field athletes participated in the Armory Collegiate Invitational Feb. 15 in preparation for the MAC Championship. The Bulls gave some of their best performances of the season as they broke two school records.
Senior Biaunca Mcfarland broke her own record and established a new meet record with her victory in the triple jump. She cleared a distance of 12.75 meters, which beat her old record set two weeks ago by .06 meters.
For the men, Jerimie Slick broke his own mark in the 5,000 meters. He finished fifth overall and third among runners from the University Division with his 14:29:76 clocking. This time shaved eight seconds off his previous school record.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
