ZipsVoice

Wow...some expected performances, some exceptional performances, some surprising performances. The guys are leading Eastern after day 1 by 4 and Kent by 9. Maurice Harris scored in the weight throw, and got things started. Jordan Latimer defended his championship in the Long Jump and Hesham Eldesouky surprised with a 3rd. Unfortunately Terrance McClain came up lame after his first jump. Then came one of the big surprises...Tevin Brown came from like 5th with 600 meters to go, took the lead with 200 to go and kicked home a huge win in the 5,000 meters, breaking the Eastern Michigan Distance Running domination. And then the Distance Medley Relay team grabbed a second, another surprising point-getter. Bigger surprises earlier, as the Zips qualified 3 in the 60 hurdles (Jace Rountree with a top-time of 8.08 seconds, Preston Fillman and Patrick Kimball). Sam Janson qualified with the second best time in the 400 along with Zack Robinson. Amir Willis and Malcolm Briley are in the finals of the 60. And Willis is in the 200 finals. On the Gals (sorry!) side Lucy Bryan was stellar, winning the pole vault with a new meet record 14' 6 1/2" a season best. And Abby Helminiak took 3rd, and Eboni Hall took 5th. Surprise - Sara Foster, a freshman took 4th in the Pentathlon for the Zips. Olivia Snyder grabbed 5th in the weight throw, not unexpectedly. Dara Perry qualified 2nd in the 60 hurdles, and Haley Hess qualified in the 800, both as expected. And the night ended with the biggest surprise for the women, a win in the DMR. So the women are 2nd to Central Michigan (another surprise) after day 1, but not a lot of qualifiers for finals tomorrow. But still some nice performances..... Go Zips!

Balsy's right...if we couldn't fill it this past Fall for Salt 'N Peppa, Vanilla Ice, Coolio, Naughty By Nature, Rob Base and Young MC, we have no chance in the future!

Revisited the entries and I revise my thinking - somewhat. I believe the Men's side will squeak out the title, but need a couple of solid performances from our runners, not so much wins but scoring places. We could conceivably sweep the Pole Vault with Matt Ludwig, Cole Wigal, Tyler Fraker and even Matt Keim (a four-sweep??). We could/should go 1-2 in long jump with Jordan Latimer and Terrell McClain, and newcomer Hesham Elesouky could even make top 3. We should/could go 1-2 in High Jump with Curtis Richardson and Nuh Andu. Then it get's shaky. Only one thrower so Maurice needs to produce a point or two on either event. Kimball in the hurdles, Amir Willis in the sprints, Andr Bollam-Godbott and Tevin Brown in distances and we could just pull it off, on the points from field events mainly.

Thanks Hilltopper - my old rememberer must be going bad....

Just saw the entries for Friday and Saturday’s Championship at Kent State. Unlike HS T & F where each school gets to enter x amount of athletes per event, the MAC and other conferences and the NCAA establish “standards” that an athlete must surpass during the season to qualify for the Championships. Same holds for Swimming and Diving next week. Whereas I believe we’ll have a few MAC individual Champs, it doesn’t look good for an overall on the women’s side and iffy on the men’s. In the sprints we don’t have a woman qualified for the 60, 200 or 400 and only one or two in the 800 and above. A couple field athletes, mostly PV. Men have a shot at overall but it’s gotta come from field events. Depth always carried us, scoring multiple athletes in events, but we are thin on both sides. Only 5 teams competing in men’s. I think Eastern Michigan will capture both team titles...but still - go Zips! And drive on over to KSU and cheer ‘em 9n...

?????

I’m gonna ask some of my old-time Zipper fans on here like Hilltopper... do you remember?

One of my fondest Rubber Bowl memories was when YSU played us, and as usual, they outplayed the Faustians...and after a score by the Penguins a lone YSU student was running around the bottom of the bowl with a Y flag, and “jolting Joe” Dunn punched the kid as he ran past!!! Got suspended I think....??????

Thanks ZZZips...will Do! And small correction, it’s actually 4 days, well, 3 and a half...

And 72 is correct...it’s one thing to win the MAC, another to be nationally ranked. That’s what’s so impressive about our “minor” sports. Track and field, men’s soccer (semi-minor) and now swimming and diving waaaay above the rest of the non P5 and some P5 schools! Admire your post 72,sometimes I feel I’m all alone out here...

Hey everyone, now’s a good opportunity to recognize them even further...Wednesday through Saturday Feb. 27 - March 2nd we host the MACs...

UPDATE: Or maybe I should say correction....had a chance to sit with Dave Pearce again last night and I told him I had posted this, and he chidingly corrected me, saying something about an adult beverage. What he had told me was that they practiced at Firestone Stadium and the fans came out to watch, while their home matches were played in much more advanced facilities...the Rubber Bowl, and believe it or not, on the grounds at Stan Hywet! Said the pitch was wonderful. Anyway... Home of the Akron Zips!

As an addendum, I checked and a world record indoors can be set on a 300 meter flat track, and on a banked track no larger than 200 meters....

No, it's just kinda like it sounds. It is flat the entire way around, like an outdoor track. Almost every outdoor track is 400 meters and flat. The indoor flat tracks are 300 meters, generally. Ours is, Youngstown State's is, SPIRE is. But the majority of indoor tracks tend to be 200 meters, and the curves are banked inward. Lots of times runners can take advantage of this and kinda slingshot themselves off of the turn. But it's almost like short course speed skating, it's tough to overtake someone once they have the lead, until the last turn. All that being said, I believe world records can only be set on 200 meter tracks..... But a 300 meter oval flat track has much tighter turns than a full 400 meter track, and in the indoor 800 he would have had to either make 4 laps or in the 300 flat, he would have had an additional turn in there, they start it opposite the finish line and go 2 1/2 times around.

While attending the Akron Invitational Track meet Friday and Saturday at Stile, there was a lot of activity with recruits, especially on Saturday. A couple of closed door meetings with families, and saw the coaching staff, George Van Horne and Larry Williams with prospects, hanging out watching the meet from the balcony. Don't know who they were but a couple were pretty BIG!

Okay, shaking my head at this weekend's Akron Invitational. I've been following Zips track and field since they helped my kid get back on his feet after ACL surgery back in the early 2000s. I've got the ultimate respect for what the program has become, but this year's Akron Invitational was, well, not so much. We still had some nice Zip performances, Jordan Latimer in the long jump setting a new school record, Curtis Richardson in the High Jump over 7' 1", Abby Wilson winning two weight events, yada yada. But the field was the weakest EVER. Past years saw Big Ten schools like Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State Rutgers, Penn State send teams. Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, have sent athletes as recently as three years ago. But due to an explosion of new indoor facilities, especially at Michigan, the fields have dwindled, and this year was more like an all-comers meet. Kent State, not a bad program mind you, was probably the strongest competition. There were two NAIA schools here! not even NCAA! What a shame. And the meet was waaayyyy too spread out. Friday started with the heptathalon and pentathalon sprints and then nothing on the track for 3 hours! Not a lot for a future recruit to get excited about, nor a gnarly ol' track fan either.

You mean like this USC....?

Damn...MAC Swimming & Diving Championships at Ocacek that week-weekend....

And why didn't we????

Oh Cy-Ko...it's better than "Bullfrog" if your old enough to remember the 3 Dog Night hit...his given name is Jeremiah!

God NW, no one calls them "secretaries" any more!!! You are close to having to attend Title IX sensitivity training camp, along with all those "fat-bottom girl" haters!

The Stadium and scoreboard was all lit up Friday night too after the track meet, but it was over about 9:30, so nothing in the stadium when I went to my car....

I lean toward this being a good thing right now. We're coming off a stretch that was very chaotic, fiery, weird. The guys have had to deal with whatever came along with "The Punch". They've been in four straight tense games, and have won three of them. But knowing you've won a pair in a row and three of four, taking a few days off, and seeing where they are in the standings might calm the nerves, let the muscles heal a little, and get some mental and physical rest. I lean towards us being ready for OU.

Woo Hoo! Excitement abound. Matt Ludwig goes 19 feet 1 and a half inches in the Pole Vault and has the #1 NCAA mark currently. MacKenzie Andrews runs a helluva mile and then an outstanding second leg of the 4 x 400 in a must win win to cinch the Dual. Both team comps came down to the last two events. Lucy Bryan wins Women’s PV, Jordan Latimer won long jump, newcomer Nuh Ando dueled with teamateCurtis Richardson for a 1-2 finish in high jump. Lots more. Next weekend hosts to the Akron Invitational, usually lots of nationally ranked teams come...