Miami University
MAC Championships
RedHawk Women Vault into Third at MAC Championships
5/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 11, 2012
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - A pair of RedHawks earned runner-up finishes Friday on day two of the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at Central Michigan's Lyle Bennett Track, to push the Miami University women's track and field team into third place after seven events.
The RedHawks, who sat in seventh after day one Thursday, climbed into third with 33 points. Toledo, who swept the top three spots in the steeplechase to grab a big lead, is in first with 59 points while Kent State is second with 48 points. Akron trails Miami in fourth with 29 points followed by Eastern Michigan (22) and Western Michigan (21).
Senior Alexandra Roberts (Hilliard, Ohio) claimed runner-up in the shot put with a toss of 15.37m/50-5.25, which is the third-best throw in school history, all of which are owned by Roberts. She earned eight points for Miami while KSU's Joh'vonnie Mosley won with a throw of 15.68m/51-5.5. Roberts was also the runner-up in the shot put at the indoor MAC Championships this year and last year's outdoor MAC Championships.
In the heptathlon, two RedHawks finished in the top six to total 11 points as redshirt sophomore Ashley Zaper (Whitehouse, Ohio), who was in third after four events Thursday, claimed second while sophomore Erica Mudd (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished sixth. Zaper totaled a personal-best 5,064 points, which ranks her second in school history and is the third-best score all-time at Miami. After winning the 100m hurdles Thursday, she was second in the long jump Friday with a personal-best leap of 5.70m/18-8.5, which ranks her 10th in school history in the long jump, was first in the javelin with another personal best (37.08m/121-8), which ranks her seventh at Miami, and had a PR in the 800m (2:27.99). Mudd posted a personal-best heptathlon score of 4,832, which ranks her seventh in school history. Friday, she won the long jump with a personal-best leap of 5.85m/19-2.5, which moves her into fourth in school history in the long jump.
In the 3000m steeplechase, Miami picked up five points as freshman Alex Chitwood (Carmel, Ind.) captured fifth in a personal-best 10:51.95, which ranks her in sixth all-time at Miami, while classmate Elisa Frazier (Williamsville, N.Y.) took eighth in 11:24.90.
Junior Layne Baggett (Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted the top qualifying time in the 100m hurdles as she clocked a personal-best 13.65, which ranks her second in school history, to clinch a spot in Saturday's final. Zaper also nabbed a spot in the final, taking seventh in prelims in 14.29. Baggett also cemented a spot in the 100m dash finals by placing fifth in prelims in a personal-best 11.70, which is the second-best time in school history as she improved her previous best by over half a second.
Senior Rachael Clay (Rossford, Ohio) placed fourth in the 400m dash prelims in a personal-best 53.97, which is the second-fastest time in school history, to advance to Saturday's final. Classmate Kelley Miller (Dublin, Ohio) qualified for the finals in the 1500m run as she placed third in the prelims in 4:30.43.
Freshman Jasmine Watts (Carmel, Ind.) made the finals of the long jump but just missed scoring, as she placed ninth with a leap of 5.61m/18-5. In the 800m run prelims, junior Monica Fischer (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted a personal-best time of 2:14.25 but placed 14th as Miami's top finisher and did not make the finals.
The MAC Championships conclude Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. with the high jump and discus while the first track event, the 4x100m relay, occurs at 1 p.m. followed by all the track finals and the 4x400m relay at 4:35 p.m. A total of five RedHawks clinched a spot in Saturday's track finals.
--MURedHawks.com--
