The University of Akron established themselves as the dominate track and field program in the MAC recently by sweeping the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor championships, sending a school record 23 athletes to the regionals. With their success within the conference cemented, MAC Coach of the year Dennis Mitchell looks to improve the program as a national competitor.

For the women, winning the MAC is old hat. This year marked the third straight MAC Outdoor Championship and their fourth straight MAC Indoor Championship. For the men, it was their first time winning either the indoor or outdoor championships since joining the MAC.

“I enjoy the challenge,” said Mitchell. “We’re the best in Ohio and best in the conference, but our goal is to be a strong force nationally.”

Mitchell said that he hoped to beat the previous school record of sending six qualifiers to national competition, but fell short of that goal, sending only four. Stevie large earned an NCAA berth for the women, placing in the hammer. For the men, Cadeau Miller qualified in the triple jump, Auston Papay earned his third NCAA berth, qualifying in the discus and Ryan Jones grabbed an at large bid in the high jump.

Mitchell stressed going into regionals, the mindset is different than for most of the season because the focus shifts from team performance to individual performance. But it is also a challenge, Mitchell said, because you have to balance the intensity of the current level of play with moderation.

“They are playing at a high level and you don’t want to destroy them,” he said. “You have to always assure them that they can make it and it’s going to be a tough battle. You never know what the conditions are going to be.”

Though they swept the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor championships, Mitchell said he wants to do even better within the conference. Mitchell said next year, he would like to see the program win a triple crown in both men’s and women’s, which would be winning the indoor, outdoor and cross country championships.

“We think that we’re good enough to do that, but there are going to be some other teams that have something to say about that,” said Mitchell. “There are a lot of good teams in the MAC.”

As the four qualifiers prepare for national competition, Mitchell said that their focus will become sharper and that the team would like to go in and just score as many points as possible.

“We have two All-Americans and a seasoned veteran in the group who’s been there,” said Mitchell. “We just want to go out there and see what we can do. Anything can happen.”

The NCAA Division I National Championships will take place at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Competition will begin Wednesday and end Saturday.