After two broken school records, one Mid-American Conference mark and numerous personal-best performances for the Bobcats this season, it all comes down to the MAC Indoor Track and Field Championships Friday and Saturday.
Akron will host the meet for the second time in five years at its Stile Athletics Field House, which is a 300-meter track and one that the Bobcats prefer over the 200-meter track at last year’s MAC Championships in Bowling Green.
“It gets so crowded on a 200-meter track and really hurts your chances of winning by running on the outside for too long,” distance coach Mitch Bentley said. “I prefer the 300s because the race is more honest and the best person wins with less luck involved.”
The Bobcat distance medley relay team broke the school record and took first place at last year’s championships. In the end, Eastern Michigan ran away with the championship while Ohio took 10th place.
Head coach Clay Calkins said that this year’s squad is different. Not only has the training been better with the weather on the Bobcats’ side, but he also predicted a few new records are up for grabs, such as the 3,000-meter race, the mile and a new mark in the distance medley relay.
Bentley said he agrees.
“We have another very competitive DMR team this year,” Bentley said. “We hope to challenge our school record again and perhaps even challenge the all-time MAC record. It will be a good battle.”
This year’s DMR consists of Melissa Thompson on the 1,200-meter start, Kiley Mathews on the 400-meter, Hope McCarty on the 800-meter leg and Juli Accurso anchoring and running the mile.
All 12 MAC women’s indoor track and field teams will compete this weekend. Calkins said the Bobcats’ biggest rivals this year are Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan, as well as Miami, Toledo and Kent State in some events.
The Bobcats hold 28 spots within the top 20 MAC performances in various events this season. Five athletes hold records in more than one event. Accurso holds Ohio’s only two first-place rankings, in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs.
“This meet is a culmination of all the training, and everything leads up to this point,” Calkins said. “We’re expecting good things out of all our athletes.”
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