MSU Set To Compete At Virginia Challenge This Weekend

4/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field

April 15, 2015

Performance List | Meet Schedule | Live Results
Men's Season Bests | Women's Season Bests

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Following a successful trip to Louisville for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Michigan State track and field squads will compete in the Virginia Challenge this weekend on Friday, April 17, and Saturday, April 18.

"The takeaways from last week were very positive. As an entire group, I felt like we were pretty competitive," said MSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Walt Drenth. "For us now, it's just a matter of continuing to improve. If we continue to engage in that manner, we'll have a pretty good chance when we get to the conference meet.

"This meet offers another opportunity for national qualifying for some athletes and getting some people into some high-level competition. We're excited to make the trip and to keep preparing for the Big Ten meet."

Other participating teams include Mississippi, Vanderbilt, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, South Florida, East Carolina, West Virginia, Iowa State, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Iona, Davidson, Maryland Eastern-Shore, Richmond, Radford, William & Mary, Robert Morris, Eastern Kentucky, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Toledo, Georgetown, Virginia Commonwealth and Kennesaw State.

LAST TIME OUT
The Spartans won 12 events at last weekend's Big Ten-ACC Challenge in Louisville, highlighted by senior Leah O'Connor's school record time of 4:14.57 in the women's 1500m. O'Connor's time is currently good for first in the Big Ten and third nationally. She also won the women's 800m with a career-best time of 2:06.77, tops in the Big Ten.

Senior Antonio James also won two events for MSU, claiming the top mark in both the men's discus (57.54m) and shot put (18.45m). Freshman Katelyn Daniels won the women's discus with a personal best of 56.08m. The Spartans also had the top performers in the men's and women's hammer throw as junior Cynthia Watt won the women's competition with a PR of 60.98m and sophomore Vinny Gjokaj posted a career best of 62.50m on the men's side. In the men's pole vault, Tim Ehrhardt cleared the bar at 5.25m to finish first overall.

MSU had three other individual winners on the track. Max Benoit ran a PR of 8:58.24 to win the men's 3000m steeplechase, Katie Landwehr won the women's 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:28.95 and Allison Lunau ran a time of 16:59.32 for a first-place finish in the women's 5000m. The team of Jellisa Westney, Aubrey Wilberding, Alicia Evans and Tori Franklin won the women's 4x400 relay, clocking in a 3:36.54.

SPARTANS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Michigan State women's squad checked in at No. 18 this week in the latest release of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Rankings. For the complete list of rankings, click here.

The Spartans also feature five athletes ranked in the top-20 nationally in the following events.

WOMEN's 1500m:
3. Leah O'Connor, 4:14.57 (Leads Big Ten)
4. Rachele Schulist, 4:16.41 (Second in Big Ten)

WOMEN'S DISCUS:
6. Katelyn Daniels, 56.08m (Leads Big Ten)

WOMEN'S HAMMER:
20. Cynthia Watt, 60.98m (Second in Big Ten)

MEN'S DISCUS:
18. Antonio James, 57.54m (Leads Big Ten)

MSU's DeVantre Whitelow also leads Big Ten sprinters in the 100m with a time of 10.45 at the Raleigh Relays on Mar. 27. Senior Melanie Brender currently has the top 10,000m time (33:53.49) in the conference on the women's side.

MSU HOSTS BIG TEN OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
For the first time since 2006, Michigan State will host the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on May 15 - 17 at the Ralph Young Track and Field facility. The Spartan women finished sixth with 85 points at last year's championships, while the MSU men placed 11th with 37 points. The Penn State women and Wisconsin men took home the team titles at last season's meet. For additional information on the event, click here.

EVENT COVERAGE
Live results for the Virginia Challenge will be available here. Fans can also follow the Spartan track and field teams on Twitter (@MSUTrackFieldXC) for additional news and updates throughout the season.