Women's track opens outdoors in Toledo, Ohio
The women's track team will compete in its first outdoor meet of the season on Saturday in Toledo, Ohio.
After a disappointing finish to the indoor season, the Chippewas are looking to get back on track for the upcoming outdoor season.
"We are definitely going to use the indoor season finish as motivation," said junior high jumper Tanisha Johnson. "We have been talking to each other as teammates about certain things we need to focus on and we are using that as motivation as well."
Bowling Green, Oakland and Toledo are the main schools the Chippewas expect to compete against. Johnson said the team is not really looking for any personal bests but the team wants to have a good meet.
"The sprinters are really using these first couple of meets to train," Johnson said. "It is really almost like practice for them."
After gaining momentum toward the end of the indoor season, the Chippewas finished seventh out of 12 teams at the Mid-American Conference Championships, far from where they wanted to finish. Junior distance runner Sarah Squires said the team is looking to rebound from the MAC Championships and improve with every meet.
"We want to come out this weekend and show people what we have got," Squires said. "The indoor season did not end like we wanted it to and we want to start the season strong."
Bowling Green and Toledo will also give the team its first look at MAC competition during the outdoor season. Junior middle distance runner Erin Dillon said it is important to perform well to begin the season in front of conference opponents.
"We really just want to get the ball rolling," she said. "We want to start this season off better than our last one ended."
CMU beat Bowling Green and Toledo on Feb. 6 in Mount Pleasant and also scored better than either school at the MAC Championships.
Also, the team will have the 8th annual Kaelyn Carson Walk-a-thon from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Indoor Athletic Complex in honor of their late teammate Kaelyn Carson, who ran for the Chippewas in 2000. Carson lost her struggle to anorexia nervosa in the summer of 2001.
There will be posters and information tables to help raise the awareness regarding anorexia and to help everyone learn more about it. Donations are accepted and all of the proceedings go to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD). ANAD is an association that was officially launched in 1976 and has been growing ever since.
A cake walk will be held around the indoor track and a silent auction will take place.
Squires said this was a very important event to the team. There is no cost to participate.
"This is my third year involved with this event and it has definitely gotten bigger and bigger every year," said junior captain Erin Dillon. "I think it is really important to get the word out because anorexia is a disorder that athletes in our sport can have complications with. It also gives Kaelyn's parents a chance to come and it is all really cool."
sports@cm-life.com
