In her career, Ball State Track and Field senior Karlie Zumbro held an indoor personal best of 2:18 in the 800-meters. In the Doug Raymond Invitational Feb. 11-12, Zumbro set a new lifetime best with a time of 2:14 to win the event.
“It was really good to see Karlie execute,” head coach Adrian Wheatley said. “To be honest, it’s not surprising, because she’s been training at a high level and she’s committed herself to this event and committing herself to being the best athlete on and off of the track.”
With two weeks remaining until the indoor Mid-American Conference (MAC) Indoor Championships Feb. 24-26, Wheatley said the Cardinals traveled to Kent State this weekend to prepare for the MAC Indoor Championships, which the Golden Flashes will host.
“The reason we came to Kent State this weekend was to get a dress rehearsal for the big show and really allow the team to get a feel for the track and the warm-up area and checking in,” Wheatley said.
Junior Charity Griffith placed second in the long jump Feb. 11 by jumping 19-6 and placed 11th in the 60-meter hurdles. Griffith said she kept a focused mindset and her performance surpassed her goals.
“My expectation was just to get 18 feet,” Griffith said. “When I hit over that on my first try, I thought that was a really good mark and in the finals, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot more, but I went a whole foot more.”
Graduate student MaQuila Norman and sophomore Aaleiah Winford placed in the top 10 of the 200-meter dash. Norman tied for fourth with a final time of 25.10 while Winford placed sixth with a final time of 25.14.
In addition to Zumbro’s 800-meter win, the Cardinals tallied more top 10 finishes Feb. 12. Ball State placed four in the top 10 of the 400-meters, as sophomore Alexis Thigpen finished fourth with a final time of 56.46. Graduate student Payton Barlow finished fifth with a final time of 56.58, while freshman Jenna Oriani finished seventh (57.60) and Norman finished ninth (57.98). Barlow said she built confidence and believes it will be helpful when Ball State returns to Kent State in two weeks.
“It was really exciting [to place top five] on the same track that MACs are going to be held at in a few weeks,” Barlow said. “It was nice to get some competition against some of our MAC competitors right before the conference championships.
In the one-mile run, junior Sarah Greer finished 10th and junior Grace Dean finished 12th. Freshman Carly Speltzer finished seventh in the 3000-meters.
The Cardinals return to competition in the MAC Indoor Championships Feb. 24-26.
Contact Corbin Hubert with comments at cchubert@bsu.edu or on Twitter @corbin_hubert_
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