Miami University
MAC Outdoor Championships
Collier and Szekely Lead Tremendous Start at MAC Championships
5/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
Results (PDF)
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Danielle Collier and Martha Szekely picked up their first career conference titles to headline Miami's strong opening day at the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The duo's first-place finishes in the javelin and hammer throw, respectively, have the RedHawk women sitting second in the team standings with 25 points, trailing only Bowling Green's 27 after day one. Miami's men sit fifth in the team rankings with seven points as Eastern Michigan's 43 points paces the men's side.
"I'm very pleased with the way we've started," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Tom Chorny said. "We had two big wins from Danielle and Martha. On the men's side, we got a few more points than we were expected to get thanks to Zubin Coleman and a really great competitive effort by Ben Metzger. We've got a few important trials and finals to focus on tomorrow. If we can keep this momentum going, we will find ourselves in a place to score a lot of points on Saturday. Above all, I'm proud to see the way this team is coming together to support each other like they did today."
All five of Collier's marked javelin throws landed farther than the entire field. Even so, the sophomore saved her best for last as she uncorked her final toss 164-9 down the runway, topping her previous personal best by nearly six feet and putting the Red & White on the board with 10 points. Aaryn Gray added five more points in the event as her fifth throw marked at 134-9 1/4, good for fourth.
Szekely captured her first career MAC title in her final outdoor meet by continuing her late season surge in the hammer throw. Her third toss of the afternoon secured the gold as it landed 197-0 3/4 from the circle and concluded MU's scoring for the women. The two conference titles are the RedHawks' first outdoor crowns since Tori Paterra claimed the javelin and Charlotte Myers won the 800m at the 2014 MAC Outdoor Championships.
The men closed the day with a big personal best from Metzger in the 10,000m. In a highly competitive race, Metzger shaved roughly 18 seconds off his previous best by cruising to the finish line in 30:33.69. The junior led the race into the final lap and finished just 1.3 seconds behind eventual champion Nicholas Raymond of Eastern Michigan.
"That was the best race I've seen from Ben in the past two years," Chorny said. "I know this will give him great confidence going forward into next year."
Back in the throwing circle, Coleman added another point to Miami's team total by taking sixth in the hammer throw thanks to a throw of 172-8 on his third try. Elsewhere, Zane Shreve completed the first half of the decathlon and sits eighth in the multi-event competition with 3,096 points.
Competition at the conference meet resumes on Friday with the decathlon and heptathlon continuing at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
