cm-life.com/sports
Central Michigan Life || Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 || 3B
[sports]
Women’s Track
Softball
Women open in New Mexico
Chippewas travel to Allendale Meet a homecoming for transfer Johnson
Central to play four games in Troy Cox Classic
Valentine
By John Evans Staff Reporter
Tanisha Johnson will compete against her old team this weekend at Grand Valley State University for the first time since transferring to CMU. The junior high jumper and the women’s track team travel to Allendale this weekend to compete in the Grand Valley Big Meet. The meet is a two-day event, starting at 4 p.m. today and continuing the following day at 10 a.m. on Saturday. “I am really looking forward to the meet,” Johnson said. “I cannot wait to see my former teammates and still friends, but at the same time I want to remain focused on competing and cheering on the team as we enter the finals stretch at such a big meet.” Grand Valley has a brand new
300-meter indoor track and the Chippewas want to use it to their advantage. The track is similar Kent State’s 300-meter track, also Tanisha Johnson the location of the Mid-American Conference Championships this season. “I am looking for a bit of an extra sweet Valentine’s Day with the opportunity to see everyone from GVSU, and CMU competing as we move forward toward our conference championship,” Johnson said. “The sugar on top is being able to show my former team and coaches what I have been up to for the past few months.” At the “Big Meet,” the Chippewas will compete against Eastern Michigan and Grand Valley for a second time and Miami University for the first time this season. “Miami is a MAC school that
we have not seen before and Eastern has some great runners,” said Erin Dillon, middle distance runner and team captain. “This meet gives us another opportunity to see how we are matching up against the other MAC schools. We are looking forward to this weekend because it is our big meet before the MAC championship.” Although the Chippewas have yet to see Miami this year, they seek to match up with them all around the track. The Chippewas are also using the first-place finish last weekend at the MAC-Quadrangler meet as motivation. “We are really looking forward to competing on their surface,” Dillon said. “Our whole team has been working hard this whole season and it is another opportunity to cash in against great competition.” sports@cm-life.com
By D.J. Palomares Senior Reporter
The softball team will travel to a warmer climate this weekend when it competes in the Troy Cox Classic in New Mexico. The Chippewas open their season with a pair of games against University of Texas-El Paso, and individual games against New Mexico State, Saint Mary’s and Eastern Illinois. “Finally getting to play outside is going to be great,” said senior pitcher Ali Pettit. “The weather is supposed to be beautiful in New Mexico and we are definitely looking forward to playing on dirt, not turf.” Central competed in the tournament in the 2007 sea-
son and finished with a 1-4 record. The tournament opens today at 2 p.m. MST against UTEP, and contin- Ali Pettit ues with a nightcap against NMSU. UTEP opened their season last week with a 2-4 finish at the Kajikawa Classic. The team finished the tournament with a decisive 7-4 victory over the host team and No. 2 in the nation Arizona State. The host New Mexico State began its season on Feb. 5 and is 6-0. CMU faced the Aggies twice in the 2007 season. Both ended in a loss for the Chippewas. Central was picked by the Mid-American Conference coaches as the favorite to be the West Division champion. “We expect to win right out of
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the gate this season,” Pettit said. “We want to start strong and finish even stronger so we will be in a position to win the MAC and make it to NCAA regionals. Everyone is on the same page and we are ready to compete.” Returnering players include senior centerfielder Tracy Kaatz, who led the team with 37 steals in 39 attempts. The total was third in the conference last season. Junior pitcher Kari Seddon returns to the team after leading the team with 117 strikeouts last season. She struck out 49 batters looking, a total that placed her fifth in the conference. Pettit tied Seddon in wins last season with ten. “We are very excited to get our season under way,” Pettit said. “We have worked very hard in the off season and we are ready to see all of our preparation pay off.”
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