Women's track places third at Michigan Intercollegiates

Issue date: 2/2/09

By Anthony Fenech
Staff Reporter

The CMU women's track team saw an increase in the level of competition, coinciding with an increase in performance last weekend.

The Chippewas placed third in the Michigan Intercollegiates in Ypsilanti, finishing behind No. 3 ranked Michigan and directly on the heels of rival Western Michigan, respectively, losing to the Broncos by only 16 points.

"It was the best that I've seen the team all year," said Erika Schroll, a junior high jumper. "It was really exciting, especially to be so close to Western."

Schroll said it was the closest the team has finished against WMU, a team that has resided in the upper-echelon of the Mid-American Conference.

"As we keep improving, I think we can close that gap and possibly beat them for the MAC [Championship]," she said.

Schroll competed in both the pentathlon and high jump, finishing in fourth with 3,317 points in the pentathlon and third in the high jump with a leap of 1.68 meters.

Head coach Karen Lutzke said the strong showing against WMU will result in higher confidence for the team.

"Definitely," Lutzke said about the confidence booster. "We know how good they are and we were right there with them."

Sophomore sprinter Jordan Dunn put together an excellent day that resulted in two personal bests, finishing first in the 60-yard dash with a time of 7.60 seconds and second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.5.

"What she did [this weekend] was something special," Lutzke said, commenting about Dunn, who is currently leading the conference in the 60-meter dash.

Freshman Dierra Riley finished right behind Dunn in the 60, placing second at 7.64. Riley's time was also a personal best.

Other winners over the weekend for the team were sophomore Norianna Brown, winning the shot put with a throw of 54 feet, four inches, and the distance medley team, taking first in their event with a time of 12:09.67.

"I was very pleased with how well we competed as a team," said Lutzke. "I thought we did a nice job of stepping up to the level of competition and doing everything that was necessary for us to be very competitive."

The team's second home meet of the season comes on Friday as they host a trio of MAC schools, Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, and Toledo, for an open meet at the Indoor Athletic Complex.