MACwood Squares is our summer reading series on the best athletes in Mid-American Conference sports history. This week features Central Michigan . Looking for your MAC school? Consult our schedule for other teams and please submit your nominees as well.
We're bringing the seventh week of this to a close, and might I say how incredibly fun this has been, as well as informative for myself. This almost is the midpoint of the series, and so far I just want to thank anybody, everywhere, who's thrown down a good nomination, called me out for missing people in polls, and fervently disagreeing with final choices. I'm one man with opinions and limited hours in the day, but all of you are people displaying your passion for your favorite MAC schools, and this is tremendous to see — not only for me but for those who don't think the conference has enough support and enthusiasm.
Ahem. Now then: onto another subset of great Chippewas athletes: the women. I went through the e-hall of records and came up with four suitable candidates. No poll on this one, but please mention any females I may have missed:
Sue Nissen (basketball, 1988-91) — She averaged 17.0 points a game en route to 1,938 career points, and also accumulated 977 rebounds (fourth all-time), 325 assists (fifth) and 188 steals (tied for seventh). No CMU player has ever won MAC POY in women's basketball, but Nissen comes the closest: three first-team nods and a second-team.
Karen Michalek (field hockey, basketball, track and field 1975-77) — One of five women currently in the MAC Sports Hall of Fame. (That's not many, but then again they haven't added anyone since 1994.) She gained a total of nine letters, three in each sport.
Kim Erasmus (field hockey, 2006-09) — Four-time first team All-MAC as a back. Scored 10 goals and 19 points as a defensive player in her career. I'm not a scholar of field hockey, so I imagine there aren't many defensive statistics out there on field hockey, but I'd wager that the scoring ain't all that important.
Shay Mannino (soccer, 2007-10) — I'm no soccer buff, but a career 0.70 goals against average in 74 matches? That's probably some type of school record. (It's also a MAC record.) Of her 45 career wins, 31 were shutouts. Their first two ever MAC championships were the past two years, so this is new ground for the program, and they seem to have even more potential, based on what I've read. Goalies are crucial to soccer success, so you could say there's a bit of a LeFevourish legacy left behin by Mannino.
Who are your nominees for Central Michigan's MACwood Squares? Comment below, tweet us at @HustleBelt or submit a FanPost making your case. The final nine will be revealed Friday.