Kent State Sweeps Weight Throw Titles on Day 1 at MAC Indoor Championships
2/23/2018 10:54:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Senior Gabrielle Figueroa and freshman Jake Wickey provided Kent State with a sweep of the weight throw for the second straight year on Friday's opening day of competition of the 2018 Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The championship's first day featured five event finals in both the men's and women's competitions. The Golden Flashes' men are currently fourth with 26 points and the women are fifth with 22 points.
Figueroa successfully defended her weight throw crown in record-setting fashion. The Youngstown, Ohio native beat her previous personal-best and shattered the school record previously held by Jackie Leppelmeier (2014) with a top throw of 69'-11.00". Figueroa, who is the first Kent State student-athlete to win consecutive weight throw titles since Roberta Collins won four straight from 1996-99, improved her chances of qualifying for the upcoming NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She entered the week with a No. 16 national ranking and could move as high as No. 14, pending results from other conference championships.
On the men's side, Wickey had a top throw of 66'-0.50" to win an individual title in his MAC Championships debut. The Medina, Ohio led throughout the competition following a toss of 64'-3.75" on his first attempt.
Men's Highlights
Kent State scored in three of five events finals for 26 points on the day. The Golden Flashes are just five points behind third-place Central Michigan. Akron sits atop the leaderboard with 44 points.
Long jump was Kent State's best event of the day, tying Akron for the lead with 12 points. TJ Lawson earned All-MAC honors with a top jump of 24'-9.00" to place second. Samory Fraga finished fourth with a mark of 24'-1.00".
The distance medley relay team of Kevin Jones, Kole Johnson, Jonny Lukins and Grzegorz Kunc took fourth-place with a time of 10:23.5.
The Flashes own three of the top four spots through four events if the heptathlon despite NCAA qualifier TJ Lawson not competing. Isaac Agyemang is the current leader with 2,934 points and took first in both the high jump (tied) and long jump. Jacob Mally also tied for the lead in the high jump and sits in third with 2,769 points, while Ryan Looser is right behind in fourth-place with 2,684 points.
Seven Flashes advanced to Saturday's running event finals. Riak Reese ran the fastest time in the prelims for the 60-meter dash (6.74) and 200-meter dash (21.50). Grzegorz Kunc also posted a top prelims time by clocking a 1:54.37 in the 800-meter run. Brandon Harris (60m), Kevin Jones (800m), Dairius Ragland (60H) and TJ Lawson (60H) also advanced to finals competition.
Women's Highlights
Cayla Carey took second in the long jump with a top mark of 19'-10.25". The distance medley relay team of Sarah Pack, Aiyanna Crawford, Lauren Burnett and Maddie Dunlap clocked a 12:04.35 to place seventh. Brielle Collier scored 3,256 in first pentathlon debut to finish seventh.
Nicole Yeargin (200m), Lauren Burnett (800m) and Mi'Angel Daniels (60H) all advanced to running finals.
Previewing Saturday
The final day of the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships begins with the men's heptathlon (60H) at 10 a.m. Saturday The men's triple jump, men's high jump and women's shot put mark the start of field events at 11 a.m. Championship races are scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. with the men's one-mile run.
Live video streaming of competition will be available beginning at 11 a.m.
Men's Standings
1. Akron – 44
2. Eastern Michigan – 41
3. Central Michigan – 31
4. Kent State – 26
5. Buffalo – 12
Women's Standings
1. Bowling Green – 32
2. Eastern Michigan – 30
3. Akron – 28
4. Western Michigan – 23
5. Kent State – 22
6. Buffalo – 19
7. Miami – 12
8. Northern Illinois – 9
t9. Toledo – 7
t9. Central Michigan – 7
11. Ohio – 6
12. Ball State – 0
Players Mentioned
