Women take first place at four-team MAC meet
Brian ManzulloShanaye Carr had a breakout performance Friday when she took first place in the 60-meter hurdles and second place in the long jump at Jack Skoog Track.
Carr was one of five first-place finishers for the women's track team as it won a Mid-American Conference quadrangular meet with 170 points. Toledo (130) finished second, followed by Northern Illinois (109.5) and Bowling Green (101.5).
"Carr really stood out and had a great performance," said Lutzke. "She is really starting to come around for us."
The sophomore from Lansing ran the 60m hurdles in 8.8 seconds, 0.09 from her season high. She also set a career-high with her 5.59-meter effort in the long jump.
Sophomore sprinter Jordan Dunn and freshman sprinter Dierra Riley finished first and second, respectively, for the second consecutive week in the 60m dash. Dunn ran a 7.69 and Riley finished close behind in 7.73 seconds. Dunn holds the MAC's top time at 7.6 for the event and also finished fourth in the 200m dash.
Coach Karen Lutzke said she was very pleased with the way her team performed and several of her runners are starting to show promise.
"It was great for us to have two scoring meets in a row," Lutzke said. "In a scoring meet like this, we do not have to focus on times or measurements. We can just focus on competing and pushing ourselves."
CMU had another one-two finish in the 60m hurdles, as junior sprinter Stephanie Foster placed right behind Carr in 9.18 seconds.
Although the Chippewas finished first through fourth in the 60m hurdles, only the top two teammates can pick up points.
Many of the athletes used this meet as a tune up for the MAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28. Junior Stephanie Byrne, who competed despite not feeling well, said some of the runners are dealing with sickness.
Byrne was passed at the finish line by Toledo's Danielle Jacoby in the 400m dash and finished second by just two-tenths of a second in 59.55 seconds.
Sophomore distance runners Danielle Dakroub and Brittany Dixon finished third and fourth respectively to pick up points for CMU in the one-mile run.
"I feel like our team really came together on Friday night," Byrne said. "Everyone was cheering for everyone and it was great. We just need to work on getting everyone healthy for the MAC championship."
The Chippewas placed first and second in the 800m run as junior distance runner Sarah Squires finished with a time of 2:17, winning the event and Dakroub finished second with a time of 2:20.
The 4x400m relay team of Dukes, junior middle distance runner Erin Dillon, Sisson and Byrne finished second place, adding seven points to the Chippewas' already sizeable lead.
"In the upcoming weeks we are going to work on getting sharp and we want to be peaking come championship time," said Lutzke. "This is the time of year when people start to get sick and we want to try and get everyone healthy for the MAC indoor championship in a couple of weeks."
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