Friday, February 22
Ann Arbor, Mich.
All Day
Michigan State University
at
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Spartan Track & Field Wins Two More Titles on Final Day of B1G Championship
2/23/2019 7:19:00 PM | Track and Field
Nick Guerrant won the heptathlon and Ellen DiPietro took the high jump title.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Michigan State track & field earned two more event titles Saturday at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, as Nick Guerrant won the heptathlon and Ellen DiPietro took the women's high jump championship at the U-M Indoor Track Building.
The Spartans won four event championships (heptathlon, women's high jump, women's distance medley relay, and women's pole vault), place second in two others (women's 800-meters, men's distance medley relay) and took third in the men's 800-meters and the women's mile.
Michigan State totaled 61 points on the women's side, finishing in sixth place as a team, while the men's team tallied 26 points to take 12th place. Ohio State won the women's title with 112 points, and Nebraska took the men's championship, totaling 93 points.
Guerrant started the day off just like he did Friday, posting the top time in the first event of the heptathlon by running a new personal best of 8.17 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. After a fifth-place mark in the pole vault, Guerrant turned in a new career-best 2:43.77 in the 1,000-meters to grab the title. His 5,783 points broke the heptathlon school record he set last year at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and is the sixth-best mark in the country this season.
"To run a personal record in the hurdles, set a facility record and earn a Big Ten Championship, it really bodes well for Nick," MSU director of track & field Walt Drenth said. "If we can get him off the long jump board well at the nationals, he's going to be a scorer for sure. He just kept fighting; we're really pleased with his effort."
Ellen DiPietro posted a top mark of 1.76m (5-09.25) to win the women's high jump, scoring 10 points for the Spartans. DiPietro placed eighth in the high jump at last year's Big Ten Indoor Championships, and won her second competition this year after taking the top spot at the Wolverine Invitational in January.
"It was a great championship for Ellen as she was able to do the simple things she knows she can do, and it worked well for her," Drenth said. "I always tell the team to do the things they know they can do and once you get to the point you're going to be stretched, you can test yourself. I was thrilled for her to see her win."
Annie Fuller ran a huge personal best in the women's mile, crossing the line in 4:35.63 to grab the third-place medal and post a top-20 time nationally this season. It was the second medal of the Big Ten Championships for Fuller after she ran the final leg for the Spartans' champion women's distance medley relay team on Friday night.
Dillon McClintock earned her second medal of the weekend as well, thanks to a strong final lap and kick down the stretch in the women's 800-meters. McClintock passed two runners, taking second-place with a personal record time of 2:05.68. It was a top-15 time nationally this season for McClintock. Carlyn Arteaga turned in her second personal record of the weekend in the event to take fifth-place.
"Our middle distance runners were really good today considering they had tough preliminaries and had to run faster yesterday than they had all year to get to the finals," Drenth said. "They ran really good distance medleys last night, then came back and ran even better today. That's a testament to their will to compete. For Annie and Dillon, it hasn't even been that long that they've been training, and they came out here and ran a season's-best. I really have to hand it to them. They're gifted, but also very competitive."
True freshman Jaiden Paris set her second personal record of the weekend in the women's 60-meter hurdles, taking sixth place and recording three team points for the Spartans with a time of 8.47 seconds.
Morgan Beadlescomb took seventh-place (14:06.20) in a very strong men's 5,000-meter field, his first race at the distance in his career. Lynsie Gram ran a personal best 16:24.86 to finish seventh in a fast women's 5,000-meter race. Shelby Allen took seventh place in the women's triple jump for MSU, while Kayli Johnson finished 10th in the women's shot put.
"Our toughness, willingness to compete and be engaged really showed this weekend," Drenth said. "I thought we made some huge progress from that standpoint and our team atmosphere was outstanding. For us, we go outdoors and do a lot of things well. We'll be adding more people back in the mix who are going to be competitive and have a chance to score at the conference meet. I'm excited to see how they grow."
The Spartans await NCAA Indoor Championship qualifications for the final meet before the outdoor season begins the final weekend of March. The NCAA Indoor Championships are hosted by the University of Arkansas on March 8-9 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Spartans won four event championships (heptathlon, women's high jump, women's distance medley relay, and women's pole vault), place second in two others (women's 800-meters, men's distance medley relay) and took third in the men's 800-meters and the women's mile.
Michigan State totaled 61 points on the women's side, finishing in sixth place as a team, while the men's team tallied 26 points to take 12th place. Ohio State won the women's title with 112 points, and Nebraska took the men's championship, totaling 93 points.
Guerrant started the day off just like he did Friday, posting the top time in the first event of the heptathlon by running a new personal best of 8.17 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. After a fifth-place mark in the pole vault, Guerrant turned in a new career-best 2:43.77 in the 1,000-meters to grab the title. His 5,783 points broke the heptathlon school record he set last year at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and is the sixth-best mark in the country this season.
"To run a personal record in the hurdles, set a facility record and earn a Big Ten Championship, it really bodes well for Nick," MSU director of track & field Walt Drenth said. "If we can get him off the long jump board well at the nationals, he's going to be a scorer for sure. He just kept fighting; we're really pleased with his effort."
Ellen DiPietro posted a top mark of 1.76m (5-09.25) to win the women's high jump, scoring 10 points for the Spartans. DiPietro placed eighth in the high jump at last year's Big Ten Indoor Championships, and won her second competition this year after taking the top spot at the Wolverine Invitational in January.
"It was a great championship for Ellen as she was able to do the simple things she knows she can do, and it worked well for her," Drenth said. "I always tell the team to do the things they know they can do and once you get to the point you're going to be stretched, you can test yourself. I was thrilled for her to see her win."
Annie Fuller ran a huge personal best in the women's mile, crossing the line in 4:35.63 to grab the third-place medal and post a top-20 time nationally this season. It was the second medal of the Big Ten Championships for Fuller after she ran the final leg for the Spartans' champion women's distance medley relay team on Friday night.
Dillon McClintock earned her second medal of the weekend as well, thanks to a strong final lap and kick down the stretch in the women's 800-meters. McClintock passed two runners, taking second-place with a personal record time of 2:05.68. It was a top-15 time nationally this season for McClintock. Carlyn Arteaga turned in her second personal record of the weekend in the event to take fifth-place.
"Our middle distance runners were really good today considering they had tough preliminaries and had to run faster yesterday than they had all year to get to the finals," Drenth said. "They ran really good distance medleys last night, then came back and ran even better today. That's a testament to their will to compete. For Annie and Dillon, it hasn't even been that long that they've been training, and they came out here and ran a season's-best. I really have to hand it to them. They're gifted, but also very competitive."
True freshman Jaiden Paris set her second personal record of the weekend in the women's 60-meter hurdles, taking sixth place and recording three team points for the Spartans with a time of 8.47 seconds.
Morgan Beadlescomb took seventh-place (14:06.20) in a very strong men's 5,000-meter field, his first race at the distance in his career. Lynsie Gram ran a personal best 16:24.86 to finish seventh in a fast women's 5,000-meter race. Shelby Allen took seventh place in the women's triple jump for MSU, while Kayli Johnson finished 10th in the women's shot put.
"Our toughness, willingness to compete and be engaged really showed this weekend," Drenth said. "I thought we made some huge progress from that standpoint and our team atmosphere was outstanding. For us, we go outdoors and do a lot of things well. We'll be adding more people back in the mix who are going to be competitive and have a chance to score at the conference meet. I'm excited to see how they grow."
The Spartans await NCAA Indoor Championship qualifications for the final meet before the outdoor season begins the final weekend of March. The NCAA Indoor Championships are hosted by the University of Arkansas on March 8-9 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
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