
Track & Field Finishes Action at Michigan and Notre Dame
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Jan. 22, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State track & field program continued its indoor season when it traveled to Notre Dame, Ind., for the Notre Dame Invitational and a group of throwers traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Simmons-Harvey Invitational.
In Ann Arbor, the throwers impressed early on in the competition as Zach Hill claimed the shot put crown with a toss of 18.42m. Brad Wentzel was fifth with a recorded distance of 16.57m. The MSU men remained strong in the weight throw as Anthony Agrusa was second as the top collegiate thrower with a toss of 19.56m. Agrusa was joined by teammates Lonnie Pugh, Jay Gillespie and Wentzel in positions third through fifth. Pugh posted a mark of 19.10m and Gillespie notched a 18.85m, while Wentzel tossed a distance of 18.60m.
The women were equally as impressive as they saw Shatora Lewis post a toss of 14.11m in the shot put for third place. Ashley Lawrence followed in fourth (14.00m) and Catherine Daniels was fifth (13.52m). Daniels was the top Spartan in the weight throw with her third-place toss of 17.27m. Lewis was also a top-five finisher in fifth with a 17.01m mark.
Erica Mann was strong for MSU in Notre Dame as she won both the 60m and 200m dashes. Mann won the 60m dash with a time of 7.63 while she won the 200m dash in 24.62.
Joining Mann with a sweep of the 60m and 200m dashes was Yury Ratomski. Ratomski clocked in with a winning 60m dash time of 6.85 while he also won the 200m dash in 21.65.
In the women's 400m dash, Alysson Bodenbach was the top MSU runner in the event as she finished fourth with a time of 56.32. Bodenbach finished just behind the top runner's time of 56.32. Joining Bodenbach in fifth was Jaelynn Pryor with a time of 57.22.
Winning the women's 800m run was Amelia Bannister with a time of 2:16.06 while Joe Banyai was MSU's top male runner in the event with a second-place time of 1:52.84, just behind the first-place mark of 1:52.64.
Tiffany Evans was the top runner in the 1000m run as she clocked in with a time of 2:54.28 for third overall.
In the 1-mile run, Emily MacLeod and Carlie Green finished second and third in the event, respectively. MacLeod finished in 4:42.75 and Green turned in a time of 4:47.90.
The men were equally as strong in the event as Josh McAlary paced the men's team in second (4:09.38) which was joined by Isaiah VanDoorne in third (4:09.96) and Ben Miller in fourth (4:10.17).
Rebekah Smeltzer gave MSU another win when she finished with the top 3000m run time, finishing in 9:44.98. Katie Haines joined Smeltzer as she was fourth with a time of 9:58.10.
Pryor returned to the track for the 60m hurdles and crossed the finish line in 9.00 for second place. Chelsea Ross joined Pryor with her fifth-place time of 9.21.
Combined, the Spartan jumpers recorded four first-place finishes in six events. Jessica Scherting leaped a height of 1.70m in the women's high jump while Kevin Jackson won the men's event with a height of 2.11m. Winning the women's pole vault with a height of 3.85m was Sarah Birkmeier. Birkmeier was followed up by Ashley Smith in second with a mark of 3.70m.
The Spartan men also had two finishes in the top-five of the pole vault. Codi Mattix was second overall with a height of 5.00m while Derik Peterman finished with a vault of 4.85m.
Isaac Marshall gave the jumpers their fourth first-place finish as he won the men's long jump with a leap of 6.88m.
Leading the way for the women in the long jump was Maggie Smith in third with a distance of 5.33m. Marva Goodson followed in fourth (5.32m) as Katie Guikema was fifth (5.28m).
MSU returns to action next week when a group of Spartans will travel to the Bill Bergan Invitational hosted by Iowa State in Ames, Iowa. The Green and White will compete on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 27-28.