Kent State University
Akron Dual
Track and Field Hosts Akron Dual on Friday
1/23/2020 12:09:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
The Kent State track and field program hosts the first of three home meets during the 2019-20 indoor season Friday evening at the Kent State Field House when it competes against Akron in the annual dual meet between the rivals.
Competition begins at 5:00 p.m. with the men's long jump. The remaining field events are all scheduled to be underway by 5:30 p.m. The women's one-mile run gets action on the track starting at 6:30 p.m. The men's 4x400 relay will conclude the running events at approximately 8:30 p.m.
Admission is $5 for all spectators.
PREVIEWING THE FLASHES
Kent State has competed in two meets so far during the indoor season with both taking place at the Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) in Youngstown, Ohio.
The Flashes have 7 men who are ranked in the top 3 in the Mid-American Conference scheduled to be in action Friday. Christian Champen owns the conference's top mark in pole vault (17' 0.75"), ranking 21st in the country. Walter Petzel and Jake Wickey are both ranked 2nd in the conference in shot put (55' 2.75") and weight throw (66' 7.25"), respectively, with Wickey also being ranked 22nd in the country. Brian Phillips is ranked 3rd in the conference in long jump (23' 4.5"), while his teammates Asa Hodrick, Ryan Demaline, and Jack McElligott are ranked 3rd in the 60-meter dash (6.86), shot put (54' 1"), and high jump (6' 6.75"), respectively.
Grace Tennant is the lone member of the women's team who enters the weekend with the MAC's top mark. Tennant ranks top 50 nationally with a shot put of 50' 1.25". Three other Flashes are ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in their respective event. Gabby Bailey ranks 3rd in shot put (49' 9"), Christy Nell ranks 7th in pole vault (11' 11.75"), and Ally Thompson is right behind her ranking 9th in pole vault (11' 8.5").
FLASHBACK TO 2019
Akron swept last year's meet held a Stile Athletics Field House. The Zips' men won 78-72 and the women won 79-72.
Kent State grabbed twelve individual victories on the night.
The Golden Flashes finished 1st and 2nd in women's shot put (Grace Tennant, Gabby Bailey) and the 60-meter dash (Nicole Yeargin, Gana Lopez). Irene Skinner finished 1st in the 400-meter dash, while Alyssa Matheny took 1st in high hump and Sarena Choi finished on top for the long jump. They also took the top four times in the 200-meter.
The men finished in the top two spots for the 200-meter (Asa Hodrick, Brandon Harris) as well as the triple jump (Craig Stevens Jr., Anthony Milliner). The Flashes also had three other top place finishers. Clark Bookman took the top place in the 3,000-meter, Walter Petzel won shot put, and Jake Wickey secured 1st in weight throw.
NEXT UP FOR KENT STATE
The Golden Flashes have select athletes traveling to Arkansas for the Razorback Invitational next Friday (Jan. 31) and Saturday (Feb. 1). The entire team will be back in action for the Akron Invitational on February 7th and 8th.
Players Mentioned
