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Ray Armstrong and Mike Inge helped lead Kent State to the MAC men's outdoor championship title

Saturday, May 15

Oxford, Ohio --- The final day of the men's and women's outdoor track and field championships concluded on Saturday. In exciting fashion, Kent State won the title on the men's side, while Central Michigan, the indoor track and field champions, took the crown on the women's side.

Kent State held off indoor track and field champion Eastern Michigan by a margin of 11 points, as the Golden Flashes finished with 156 points, and the Eagles with 145 en route to winning their fourth-ever championship.

In the women's side, Central Michigan narrowly edged out Miami by a total of 112 to 107.5. Akron, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, and Ball State were all in the mix as well, as the Zips finished with 99.50 points, the Eagles with 97.50, the Golden Flashes with 94 points, and the Cardinals with 89.50 points.

The victory for Central Michigan marked the first-ever women's outdoor track and field championship for the Chippewas. CMU has competed in every championship since the conference officially sponsored women's outdoor track and field in 1981.

Leading the Golden Flashes was Mike Inge, who won the meet's most Outstanding Performance, with his victory in the 800-meters. The sophomore blazed to a time of 1:47.96 en route to taking home the gold. KSU's Wendel McRaven earned Coach of the Year for guiding the Golden Flashes to their first crown since 2000.

The Chippewas had three different individuals bring home titles. Jackie Bozin won the high jump with a 5-7 ¾ while Katie Davis won the shot put with a toss of 51- ¼ and Natasha Reynolds took home the crown in the javelin with a distance of 148-7.

First-year head coach Karen Lutzke was named the Coach of the Year for leading Central Michigan to the title. The Chippewas previous-best finish was second place in 1985.

Not to be forgotten on the day are Akron's Beata Rudzinksa, Eastern Michigan's Jordan Desilets and Toledo's Briana Shook. Desilets and Shook earned the meet's most valuable performers award, as they accumulated the most individual points towards their team's total score.

Shook took second place in the 1,500-meter run, won the 5,000-meter run in record fashion with a time of 16:22.46 and won the 3,000-meter steeplechase, also in record fashion with a time of 9:59.22.

Desilets won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:51.08, as he narrowly edged out Miami's Chris Swisher (3:51.58). The junior also took second place in the 5,000-meter run, won the 10,000 meter-run, and became the third person in conference history to win the steeplechase three times.

Rudzinksa successfully defended her crown in the 1,500-meter run, rewriting the record book in the process. Her time of 4:21.11 bested Sue Tomaneck's (EMU) time of 4:23.51 set in 1987. Also, Rudzinksa won the 800-meters for the second-straight year, as she blazed to a time of 2:07.76.

While this year's meet will be remembered for the record-setting performances, it also marked the end of an era as Ball State's and Western Michigan's men's programs competed in their final MAC Championship. The Broncos finished in fifth-place, while the Cardinals finished in a tie for sixth-place. In a classy display of sportsmanship, Kent State invited both Ball State and Western Michigan to accompany them on its victory lap to conclude the day.

Briana Shook of Toledo captured the 3,000 meter steeplechase title

Friday, May 14

Oxford, Ohio --- Day two of the men's and women's outdoor track and field championships concluded Friday night with three-time defending champion Eastern Michigan leading in the men's, and surprising Ball State leading the women's. The final round of action will start Saturday morning, at 10:30 a.m.

In what was a thrilling day of action, perhaps nothing was more thrilling than the women's steeplechase, where Toledo's Briana Shook knocked off defending champion Andrea Kremer of Miami in record-setting fashion. Shook blazed to a championship time of 9:59.22, besting her own mark of 10:04.18 set in 2002. Kremer finished in second-place, with a time of 10:27.17.

Kremer was not the only defending champion to fall in action on Friday, as Central Michigan's Katie Davis threw for a distance of 51-00 ¼ en route to bringing home the gold in the shot put. Bowling Green's Kerri McClung (50-2) took home the silver and Kent State's Breann Smith the bronze (50-3 ¼). Defending champion Lauren Collins of Miami finished in fourth-place (48-4 ¾).

Terri Abraham's victory in the long jump marked the third-straight year that a student-athlete from Ball State has taken home the title, as she covered a distance of 19-5 ¼. The mark was just enough to hold off Miami's Lashonda Davis (19-4 ¼) and teammate Jennifer McCoy (19-3 ½).

The women's heptathlon concluded its two-day competition of seven events, with Ball State's McCoy taking home the title with a total of 5,202 points. She becomes the first Cardinal to take first-place in the women's heptathlon since Gloria Tyree did so in 1982, the second year that the MAC Championships were held for the women.

It was also an exciting day of action on the men's side of things, with the steeplechase highlighting the action. Eastern Michigan's Jordan Desilets won his third consecutive crown, with a time of 8:53.53, holding off Dan Huling of Miami (8:58.88). Desilets joins Mike Irmen of Kent State (1974, 75, 76) and Mark Smith of Eastern Michigan (1982, 83, 84) as the third person in the 38-year history of the steeplechase to win three titles.

In the men's shot put, history was also made when Akron's Greg Corbitt (59-4 ¼) outdistanced Kent State's Brent Shelby (56-4 ¼) to bring home the gold. Corbitt becomes the first Zips' shot competitor to bring home the gold in the history of the program. Akron first competed at the MAC championships in 1993.

KSU's Mark Mitchell took home the crown in the men's long jump, with a winning leap of 24-7 ¾. Taking second-place was Buffalo's Reggie Rucker (24-00 ¼).

Ball State's Andrew Miller continued his program's recent dominance in the javelin, as he brought home the third title in the past four years on Friday. Miller outdistanced the field with a toss of 207-10, topping second-place finisher Tom Torchia of Western Michigan by a little of seven feet, as the Bronco threw 200-5.

The decathlon also concluded on Friday, as Buffalo's Steve Esler won the title with a total of 6,998 points, marking the second-straight season that a student-athlete from Buffalo has won the decathlon.

Kira Sims of Akron cleared 14-01.25 to win the pole vault

Thursday, May 13

Oxford, Ohio --- Day one of the men's and women's outdoor track and field championships concluded Thursday night with Central Michigan holding the early lead in the men's, and Akron leading the women's. Action will resume on Friday morning, with the first event starting at 10:00 a.m.

In the women's pole vault, Akron's Kira Sims knocked off defending champion Laura Olson of Buffalo with a new meet record and all-time record height of 14-1 ¼. Olson finished in second-place with a clearance of 13-3 ½, which also eclipsed the previous MAC championship record set by Hanna Palaama of Eastern Michigan in 2002 (13-2 ¼).

In the women's hammer throw, Miami's Lauren Collins successfully defended her title, as she outdistanced the field by nearly 15 feet. Collins' winning throw was 188-00, with Western Michigan's Kristi Ford taking second-place with a throw of 173-9.

Central Michigan's Natasha Reynolds became the first Chippewa since Julie Ravary in 1985 to take home the gold in the javelin, as she held off Akron's Ashley Kaufman. Reynolds had a distance of 148-7, while Kaufman was a little over four feet back with a throw of 144-3.

The women's 10,000-meters run also saw a new champion, with Jennifer Koeppel of Buffalo running a time of 35:43.27 for the victory. Koeppel's victory is very significant to the Bulls, as she becomes the first athlete in Buffalo history to win a track event at the Outdoor Track and Field MAC Championships.

On the men's side of things, there were only two events held on Thursday, as the remainder will take place on Friday and Saturday.

In the hammer toss, it was Miami's Jake Dunkleberger taking home the gold, as the freshman threw for a season high 205-2. He narrowly outdistanced Akron's Greg Corbit (202-9), who finished in second-place. Dunkleberger becomes the first RedHawk to win the title in the hammer toss since Dennis Kline did so in 1990.

In the 10,000-meters, EMU's Gavin Thompson pulled away late to bring home the title for the Eagles. Thompson ran a time of 29:53.02 to hold of CMU's Don Wilkins (30:11.99). It marks the fourth-straight year that a student-athlete from Eastern Michigan has won the men's 10,000-meters, as Aaron Bartee won in 2001, and Boaz Cheboiywo took home the crown in both 2002 and 2003.