May 19, 2002

Results

YPSILANTI, Mich. - For only the second time in school history, neither the men's nor the women's track and field team produced a Mid-American Conference champion (the other time it happened was 2000), although junior Ed Morgan (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington South) and sophomore Andrea Kremer (Indianapolis, Ind/Bishop Chatard) grabbed second-place finishes in the 800 and 5,000, respectively. The women came in ninth, with 45 points, while the men took 11th, with 23 points, their lowest finish ever.

Eastern Michigan ran away with its 19th men's title, beating runner-up Western Michigan 168-115. The women's competition was much closer, as Kent State nipped the Eagles, 133-128.

Morgan improved on his fourth-place showing of a year ago as he crossed the finish line in 1:51.57. Kremer, who came in fifth in the 3,000 steeplechase the day before, toured the oval in 16:54.47.

Five individuals and a relay team scored points for the RedHawk women on Day Three of the meet. By claiming fourth place in the discus, with a mark of 153-11, sophomore Lauren Collins (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) duplicated her feat of a year ago of scoring in three throwing events. She also placed sixth in the hammer and third in the shot put.

For the second year in a row, sophomore Bernitta Johnson (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./GAR Memorial) took fifth in the triple jump, this time with a leap of 40-1 1/2. Freshman Katie Dyer (Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville) also placed fifth in her specialty, the 100 hurdles, finishing in 14:30, 0.01 seconds ahead of sophomore Erin Connolly (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee), who was sixth.

Sophomore Ally Sisler (Marion, Ohio/Pleasant) not only came in seventh in the javelin but she assumed the fifth spot on the school's all-time chart with her throw of 131-5.

The 4x400 relay team of sophomores Erika Harper (Bedford, Ohio/Bedford) and Jennifer Caldwell (Sabina, Ohio/East Clinton) and freshmen Rasheda Malcolm (University Heights, Ohio/Hawken) and Dyer took sixth with a 3:52.28 clocking.

The men's showing is somewhat misleading as one of their top performers from last year (sophomore long and triple jumper Nick Somerville [Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central]) did not compete because of a hamstring injury and another (junior distance runner Brian Godsey [West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East]) was not at full strength because he was hampered by the aftereffects of mononucleosis. It also did not help that the RedHawks' lone No. 1 seed in Saturday's finals (junior hurdler Javin Tucker [Trotwood, Ohio/Madison] was disqualified in the 400 for using an illegal technique.

The men did have five individual scores on the final day of competition, headed up by sophomore Drew Walter (West Chester, Ohio/Moeller), who improved his personal best in the javelin by an amazing 13 feet, seven inches. His mark of 185-2 was good for fifth place and moved him into ninth on Miami's all-time list. Freshman Erik Reynolds (West Chester, Ohio/Lakota East) soared to a sixth-place finish in the high jump, clearing the bar at 6-8.

Junior DeLeon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus Academy) and freshman Steve Padgett (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle) took home seventh-place finishes in their respective events, the 400 and 5,000, finishing with times of 48.82 and 14:44.95. Freshman David Mitchell (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South) picked up a point in the 1,500 with his eighth-place finish. He crossed the finish line in 3:58.59.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article