Spartan Track & Field Starts Indoor Season Strong at GVSU Holiday Open

ALLENDALE, Mich. – Michigan State track and field opened the indoor season on Friday evening at the GVSU Holiday Open at the Kelly Family Sports Center, with five Spartans posting first-place finishes and many recorded personal bests.

The meet was an opportunity for sprinters, throwers and jumpers to compete for the first time since the spring. After training since Labor Day, young athletes and veterans alike were able to compete against other opponents and demonstrate their progress from last spring.

"It's very important (to start off strong) because we did something a little bit different in training than we've done in the past with the group that I have," Assistant Coach Yolanda Johnson said. "It gave them the confidence and the trust to believe that what we've been doing has been working and it will continue to work as we continue to do what we've been doing; elaborating more and going more in depth with it. It's just about that confidence and that trust in the process and getting to a place where they can believe in themselves as well as believing in us."

Junior Brooke Bogan started the Spartans off strong with a first-place finish in the 60m dash, posting a personal-best time of 7.55. Sophomore Jaiden Paris won the 60m hurdles on the women's side, clocking in at 8.70. Senior Asya Reynolds placed third in the 60m hurdles, posting a time of 8.83.

A pair of freshmen sprinters on the men's side started their Spartan careers with dominate performances.

Freshman Kendel Hammock placed third in the 60m hurdles finals, posting a time of 8.33. Hammock advanced to the finals after a personal-best time of 8.21 in the preliminary round. Freshman Tony Martin placed second in the 60m dash with a time of 6.95, also posting a personal-best.

"After the long 16 weeks of training, I thought we would be at a much better place than were last year and the results, for the most part, showed that the training had definitely paid off," Assistant Coach Lonnie Pugh said. "For the most part, some people are either surpassed PRs or opened up very close to their PRs which was great because it's an indicator that we can potentially score at the Big Ten meet as that's the end goal. It's great to see not just the numbers, but their performances; they showed up today."

The Spartans continued the success from the track to the field events, led by first-place finishes by junior Kayli Johnson and sophomores Rebecca Mammel and Trevor Stephenson.

Mammel won the women's weight throw event, with a distance of 21.44 meters, while Johnson won the shot put with a mark of 15.58 meters.

Michigan State took second, third and fourth place in the women's pole vault, led by a second place finish from junior Sophia Franklin with a 4.25m jump. Sophomores Calli Ostapowicz and Libby Jefferson placed third (3.75m) and fourth (3.60m), respectively.

In the long jump, the Spartans had two finish in the top-five, with senior Asya Reynolds placing third (5.91m) and freshman Olivia Lopez earning fourth (5.62m).

On the men's side, sophomore Dan Stone placed second in the shot put, with a personal-best mark of 16.33 meters. Stone also posted a distance of 17.81 meters in the weight throw to place fifth.

The sophomore pole vaulters performed well in the opening meet, with Stephenson taking first place in with a mark of 5.05 meters. Sophomores Alex Inosencio (T-2^nd – 4.75m) and Kyle Nouhan, with a personal-best (T-2^nd – 4.75m).

Junior John Edwards earned third place in the long jump with a jump of 6.95 meters.

Following the semester break, the indoor track season will resume on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Michigan Open in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Spartan Track & Field Starts Indoor Season Strong at GVSU Holiday Open

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brooke Bogan

Sophia Franklin

Kendel Hammock

Alex Inosencio

Libby Jefferson

Kayli Johnson

Olivia Lopez

Rebecca Mammel

Tony Martin

Kyle Nouhan

Calli Ostapowicz

Jaiden Paris

Asya Reynolds

Trevor Stephenson

Dan Stone