Women's track team takes second in Toledo
Sophomore Norianna Brown became the first member of the women's track team to qualify for the Regional Finals, winning the shot-put with a throw of 14.31 meters.
CMU tied for second place Saturday with Toledo and Bowling Green, which finished first at the Toledo Invitational.
Head coach Karen Lutzke said injuries during practice played a part in the team's performance.
"As a team I was disappointed in how we performed," Lutzke said. "We had some people out with injuries and had five different athletes get hurt in practice on Thursday. It just didn't work out how we expected."
Although Lutzke was disappointed with the overall performance, she said she was pleased with some individual efforts throughout the meet.
Junior Tanisha Johnson had two first-place finishes, winning the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.21 seconds and also winning the high jump with a leap of 5-feet, 1-inch.
Stephanie Hurley won the 400m dash with a new personal best time of 57.71 and Danielle Dakroub won the 800m run with a time of 2:18.
"It was a really close meet," Lutzke said. "We have some work to do and there is no question about that."
Junior captain Erin Dillon said the team expects to perform better at next weekend's meet.
"This is going to be my first time ever running at a home outdoor meet in the three years I have been at Central Michigan," Dillon said. "I am very excited for the home meet and to compete at home."
Dillon also said the team has to practice better if it wants to compete at a high level.
"Finishing at the line and working hard is important," she said. "Doing those things in practice will be key factors for us to finish better during races."
The Chippewas host Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan Saturday in Mount Pleasant.
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