The BG women’s track team scored 45 points en route to several personal bests and an eighth place finish at last weekend’s Mid-American Conference indoor championships at Eastern Michigan.
Central Michigan claimed championship honors with 103 points, finishing ahead of Eastern Michigan (92.5) and Kent State (90.5).
“Overall, I was happy with the majority of the meet, as far as our performances were concerned,” head coach Scott Sehmann said.
“I’d say our sprints and hurdles were the highlights as well as Erica Wilson in the high jump.”
Wilson placed fifth in the high jump to score four points for the team. Her height of 1.70 meters was also a personal best.
In in the last indoor meet of Alicia Taylor’s collegiate career, she had the team’s only first-place finish, setting a new personal best time of 8.50 in the 60 meter hurdles; Nicole Standback took third in the same event.
Taylor scored six more points for the Falcons as she placed third in the 60 meter dash and ran another personal-best time of 7.60. Teammate Valerie Holland finished just behind Taylor in fourth place with a time of 7.63.
In the 200 meter dash, Holland took third ahead of Amber Walker in fourth place.
The Falcon distance medley relay team came in sixth place to earn three more points for BG. Members of the team were Nicole Suitor, Ashley Tukes, Kim Settle and Melissa Krueger.
“[The relay team] was another highlight. Any time you can score in the championship meet, it’s a big deal,” Sehmann said.
The Falcons also had several ninth-place finishes that were just shy of scoring points. Wilson took ninth in the long jump, Veronica Vance placed ninth in the triple jump and Melissa Krueger finished ninth in the one mile run.
“We had three ninth-place finishes. That means kids that are right on the edge of placing did not. It’s hard when you smell the victory, but you can’t taste it,” Sehmann said. “Inexperience was a factor in this meet. Some people have only had a chance to be in one or two high-quality meets.”
The meet’s two-day format was helpful for the Falcons, as it allowed more recovery time for athletes running in events with preliminaries as well as finals.
“[The two-day format] certainly made a difference in Alicia’s case and Nicki [Standback’s] case. When you’re running at that intensity, you want as much recovery as possible,” Sehmann said.
Unfortunately, the Falcons ended the meet with a big disappointment in the 4 x 400 meter relay. The relay team was in the lead coming into the final turn, when Ashley Tukes was fouled when an Akron runner stepped on her foot, taking the team out of contention for a second- or third-place finish in the event. Such a finish would have most likely guaranteed a sole sixth place finish in the meet.
“I feel we made some great strides and improved indoors. Many of my colleagues mentioned that,” Sehmann said. “We plan to continue to get better and improve our position outdoors in the championship meet.”
