Centralight

20 centralight spring '14 centralight fall '11 centralight fall '12 20 centralight spring '14 Sports • cmuchippewas.com Central track and field director Mark Guthrie's passion for track and field developed early on as the former shot- putter reveled in the challenges the sport presented. "For me, it was the fact that you are out there and you're all by yourself and there is no place to hide," says Guthrie. "I enjoyed that challenge. You had nobody else to blame. If you didn't do the preparation and didn't take care of things, it always came back to you." Now, Guthrie finds his passion has turned into a successful career as he takes the reigns of a program in need of his leadership. His attention to detail and ideas for revamping the program have created buzz among the student-athletes. Guthrie joins the Chippewas after spending the last six seasons at the University of Wisconsin as an assistant coach. Previously, he was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse for 19 seasons. In total, Guthrie's teams have won 12 indoor national titles and 10 outdoor championships. Only five head coaches in NCAA history have won more team championships. • MAKING THE GRADE While working hard on the court, the CMU men's basketball program also has scored high points for hitting the books off the court. In the classroom this fall, a record 10 student-athletes received above a 3.0 grade point average. Sophomore forward Blake Hibbitts had a team-high 4.0 while senior forward Zach Saylor (3.50), sophomore guard Austin Stewart (3.48), sophomore point guard Chris Fowler (3.44), sophomore forward John Simons (3.23) and junior guard Austin Keel (3.03) also finished strong. That academic success occurred while the squad completed a successful nonconference portion of its 2013-14 schedule. Fowler led the team in scoring, assists and steals, and CMU posted seven wins for the second consecutive season. During that stretch, the Chippewas captured the championship at the Central Michigan Tournament. Academic success is nothing new for coach Keno Davis' group, as his 2012-13 squad was one of two Mid-American Conference teams to receive the Team Academic Excellence Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which recognizes outstanding academic achievement by a team with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better. • CMU WELCOMES NEW TRACK AND FIELD DIRECTOR 20 centralight spring '14 PHOTO BY CHARLOT TE BODAK PHOTO BY ROBERT BARCLAY Mark Guthrie

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