Along with several teams in the Mid-American Conference, the Kent State track and field team competed in the Jesse Owens Invitational at The Ohio State University for a big test with the MAC Championships ahead.
The two-day meet took place this past weekend, where the Flashes saw promising performances with the championship season ahead.
“I think the athletes like to see kind of that head-to-head competition, almost like a mini MAC Championship itself,” said coach Nathan Fanger. “But, I don’t know. As a coach, I don’t think I invest a lot into it. We’ll show up and go kick their butts.”
Sophomore Payton Shippee was the standout athlete in Columbus, competing in the men’s javelin. His top throw of 199’-7” was good for second place. Redshirt junior Aaron Schmoook took fifth in the same event with a top throw of 166’-3.”
“It was good. [Shippee] got beat by a MAC guy, so it was a good throw from him overall because he’s getting a little more consistent with those high numbers,” said Fanger. “He still wants to come out with a conference champion win, so he knows he’s got work to do.”
Veteran leader and redshirt senior Donovan Crawford continued his success this season in the men’s discus by taking fifth with a throw of 165’-7.”
Sophomore Beau Harkelroad was the top runner in the meet with a third-place finish in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.81 seconds. He also qualified for the men’s 110-meter hurdles final with a time of 14.98 seconds, but he did not run in the finals.
Sophomore Ryan Gruss and freshman Chaz Sakala tied in the men’s 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 10.42 seconds. Sophomore Laila Eiland also ran an 11.87-second 100-meter dash, though none of these athletes competed in the finals of their events.
“We wanted to send out more people, but the temperatures were just too cold. We weren’t putting anybody at risk,” said Fanger. “It’s nice to have them run in a prelim race to get a little bit of work behind them, but not have to push them all the way through the finals.”
Finally, graduate student Baidy Ba, who has had tremendous success in the men’s 3,000-meter run, ran the men’s 1,500-meter run to finish sixth. He crossed the finish line in 3:48.15.
“It’s just nice to know that he can close. That 1,500 is a whole lot faster than that 5k, so he’s got to have the foot speed on the day with that 1,500,” said Fanger. “He was a little bit disappointed. I mean, overall we thought it was okay, but it’s one race that he does have the ability to run.”
With two weeks until the MAC Championships, the Flashes’ performance in Columbus, despite the cold, displayed some great signs for KSU among great competitors.
Up Next
The Flashes will conclude the regular season with another split-squad meet. Some of the team will travel to Akron for the Last Chance Invitational on May 6-7 for one last chance to leave their mark on the regular season. Others will go to Berea for Baldwin Wallace’s Harrison Dillard Twilight meet on May 8.
Luke Nedved is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
