This article contains exclusive content not published in the print version.
A young Ball State women's outdoor track team had plenty of highlights at the Mid-American Conference tournament this weekend, but fell short of a top finish.
The top six teams were separated by only 22.5 points and Ball State finished sixth with 89.5 points. Central Michigan won the nine team meet.
"Our goal is always to win, our program is at a level that we're not going to be happy with anything less then a championship," head coach Sue Parks said. "Realistically, maybe we just didn't have enough to achieve that.
"The good news is we return almost all of our points for another two years so whatever we did in this meet we can only continue to build on that."
Individually, the Cardinals had three members crowned as champions.
Sophomore Jennifer McCoy won the heptathlon with a score of 5,202 which broke the school record of 5,052. McCoy received a provisional mark from the NCAA in order to qualify for regionals.
Sophomore Crystal Winfrey competed very well in sprints. She won the 400-meter dash easily, finishing .74 seconds ahead of the second place runner. The 54.17 mark qualified her for the NCAA Regionals.
"Crystal Winfrey was outstanding in the 400," Parks said. "(She) just pretty much ran away from everybody."
"I knew I had to get out real hard and by the time I hit the straightway in the last 100, I said, 'Just take it all out,'" Winfrey said. "By the time I passed the finish line I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' I was thanking God over and over.
"That was my goal to come here and win MAC that was all I wanted to do."
Winfrey also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.78.
The Cardinals earned 23 of their points in the long jump competition alone. Freshman Terrie Abraham earned first place with a mark of 19-5 1/4, which was a personal-best for her. However, the mark fell just 1/4 short of the NCAA Regional qualifying mark.
McCoy finished third in the long jump and freshman Amanda Barnhart finished in sixth.
"Anytime you can score three people in an event, that's big," Parks said.
The Cardinals also scored three in the 10,000-meter run. Sophomore Jill Scully, who had never ran the event before, finished in second place with a time of 36:02.94.
"The hardest part was, you have to be patient in the 10K and I am not very good at being patient, especially when I'm running," Scully said. "That kind of got me, because I took it out too fast. "
Senior Crystal Meeks finished in seventh with a time of 38:33.34 and junior Sarah Huddleston finished right behind her in eighth with a time of 38:46.34.
Scully also ran the 5,000-meter run the following day and finished in fourth place with a time of 16:59.32, which fell just three seconds short of a NCAA Regional qualifying time.
In the high jump, the Cards had two finish in the top ten with senior Christy Velgersdyk getting fourth and junior Ashley Gillies tied for fifth.
Ball State had two top ten finishers in the 100-meter dash; Christina Poulson finished in fourth with a time of 12.07 and Jennifer Dennie finished in eighth with a time of 12.20.
Poulson and Dennie also finished in the top ten in the 200 with ninth and tenth place finishes respectively.
In other events, freshman Rose Lehe finished in sixth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:04.04. Junior Holly Flittner finished fifth in the hammer throw with a mark of 163'10". McCoy also took eighth in the Javelin with a mark of 123'11".
The Cardinals 4x100 relay team finished fourth with a time of 46.15 and the 4x400 relay team finished sixth with a time of 3:46.93.
The Cardinals were in first place after two days in the competition, but ended up falling short in a close battle on the final day.
"There were six good teams. Unfortunately we ended up at the end of the good teams," Parks said. "We gave it a good effort and I'm proud of that."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
