Friday, April 19
Charlottesville, Va.
All Day
Michigan State University
at
Virginia Challenge
Spartans Collect Career-Bests, Top Marks at Virginia Challenge Saturday
4/20/2019 8:24:00 PM | Track and Field
Nick Guerrant, Justine Kiprotich and Carlyn Arteaga lead MSU with wins.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Michigan State track & field collected personal bests and posted top marks at Lannigan Field to close out competition on Saturday at the Virginia Challenge.
The Spartans were led by three wins on the final day from junior Nick Guerrant (men's decathlon), junior Carlyn Arteaga (women's 800-meter invite) and senior Justine Kiprotich (men's 1,500-meter invite).
Guerrant tallied 7,632 points in his first decathlon of the year, a current Top-10 mark in the country this season. Arteaga clocked 2:07.61 after passing two runners down the home stretch to cross the line first, and Kiprotich powered through the bell, extending his lead on the final lap to run to a new personal record and top-15 time in the country this season at 3:41.89.
"The wins here are a big deal for us," Director of track & field Walt Drenth said. Nick (Guerrant) stayed under control yesterday with adverse conditions, and to win the multi while qualifying for nationals is really important. Justine's (Kiprotich) win was impressive. He beat a good field of guys, including one who made the finals last year. He kinda ran away from the field and cam away feeling like there was quite a bit more in the tank. Then Carlyn (Arteaga) with a really gutsy effort to win out of the second section in what seemed like the height of the afternoon wind. She's tough and really rallied down that homestretch."
Combined Events:
Junior Nick Guerrant began the second day of competition in the decathlon with a new personal best time of 14.50 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, and posted a mark of 38.17 meters (125-2) in the discus throw to total 5,554 points through seven events. He followed with a top bar of 4.60 meters (15-1) in the pole vault to take the win, and move into the overall lead at 6,344 points with two events remaining. Guerrant put up the second-best throw of the day in the javelin at 52.17 meters (171-2) to maintain his lead and sit at 6,965 points with one event left. Guerrant closed strong down the stretch in the 1,500-meters, the last of a 10-event weekend, to clock 4:42.17 and win the decathlon title.
Junior Asya Reynolds opened day two of the women's heptathlon competition with a mark of 5.85 meters (19-2 ½) in the long jump to total 3,914 points with two events left. She followed with a new career-best of more than two meters in the javelin with a mark of 36.80 meters (120-9) to sit in third place at 4,520 points with only the 800-meter run remaining. Reynolds wrapped up her first heptathlon of the season with a time of 2:24.11 in the 800-meters and tally a total of 5,289 points.
Track Events:
The Spartans placed two runners in the top four of the men's 1,500-meter invite with Kiprotich taking the win and sophomore Morgan Beadlescomb turning in a new career-best time of 3:45.27 to take fourth place.
Junior Carlyn Arteaga moved to the outside around the final turn, and overtook two runners down the stretch to win her heat of the women's 800-meter invite and post the top time of the event at 2:07.61. The time for Artega was just six tenths of a second off a new personal record.
A Spartan trio ran to top times in the women's 1,500-meter invite section with junior Annie Fuller racing to a new lifetime best 4:17.18, improving her top-20 time in the NCAA this year. Senior Erin McDonald crossed the line in 4:25.30 (16th) and senior Kayla Kavulich was right behind her with a time of 4:25.75 (17th).
In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior Winter Romeyn pulled away from the pack on the bell lap and eased to victory in heat two with a time of 9:03.47, placing eighth overall in the event.
Senior Will Agodu broke out with a new career-best time of 13.90 in the men's 110-meter hurdles to take second place after just missing the win at the line. Agodu's time is currently in the top-15 of the East Region so far this season. Senior Devin McKinney ran a season-best 14.33 seconds, just a hundredth of a second off his career-best.
"I thought our men's hurdlers were an important bright spot, because Devin (McKinney) and Will (Agodu) are both good," Drenth said. "It took them a little bit of time to get in sync, but they did a nice job of being better today. Will's time is good and we see quite a bit more coming from him. Devin got some momentum and that's important for us a program that he goes well, but also important for him. He's paid his dues and has done a nice job for us as a leader."
Senior Taylor Mullins recorded a season-best time in the women's 400-meter hurdle invite, clocking 59.79 to take fourth place, her second time under one minute so far this season.
In the 200 meters, sophomore Brooke Bogan ran 24.63 to take 13th on the women's side, while freshmen Joe Stevens (22.01, 23rd) and Peirre Brown (22.17, 31st) ran for the Spartans on the men's side.
Closing out a long day of action on the track, was the men's 5,000-meter run with sophomore Joe Riordan coming up just seconds short of a personal record with a time of 14:30.37. In the same race, junior Matt Thomas returned to the track for the first time since suffering a broken ankle in December, and battled to clock 14:47.43 in a race that didn't end until 10:30 p.m.
"That might be the story of the day with Matt coming back," Drenth said. "The guy broke his ankle and sometimes you don't come back from that. He got out here and ran courageously, I even gave him the option to pull off and he wanted to finish. Good for him. He showed good maturity and I'm proud of him."
Field Events:
In the high jump, senior Ellen DiPietro cleared a top bar of 1.78 meters (5-10) to take second place, just missing the next bar that would have tied a season-high and given her the win. DiPietro took third to open the season at the Raleigh Relays and second each of the last two weekends, after being the runner-up at the Louisville Invitational a week ago.
Junior Jon Edwards posted a new career-best leap of 7.43 meters (24-4 ½) in the men's open long jump, the top mark of the first flight. Edwards couldn't improve on the mark in the finals and took fifth place for MSU.
In the women's open long jump, freshman Olivia Lopez posted the top mark of the first flight at 5.63 meters (18-5 ¾) and followed with a new personal best jump of 5.71 meters (18-8 ¾) in the finals to grab sixth place.
The Spartans wrap up regular season competition next Friday-Saturday, April 26-27, at the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus, Ohio.
The Spartans were led by three wins on the final day from junior Nick Guerrant (men's decathlon), junior Carlyn Arteaga (women's 800-meter invite) and senior Justine Kiprotich (men's 1,500-meter invite).
Guerrant tallied 7,632 points in his first decathlon of the year, a current Top-10 mark in the country this season. Arteaga clocked 2:07.61 after passing two runners down the home stretch to cross the line first, and Kiprotich powered through the bell, extending his lead on the final lap to run to a new personal record and top-15 time in the country this season at 3:41.89.
"The wins here are a big deal for us," Director of track & field Walt Drenth said. Nick (Guerrant) stayed under control yesterday with adverse conditions, and to win the multi while qualifying for nationals is really important. Justine's (Kiprotich) win was impressive. He beat a good field of guys, including one who made the finals last year. He kinda ran away from the field and cam away feeling like there was quite a bit more in the tank. Then Carlyn (Arteaga) with a really gutsy effort to win out of the second section in what seemed like the height of the afternoon wind. She's tough and really rallied down that homestretch."
Combined Events:
Junior Nick Guerrant began the second day of competition in the decathlon with a new personal best time of 14.50 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles, and posted a mark of 38.17 meters (125-2) in the discus throw to total 5,554 points through seven events. He followed with a top bar of 4.60 meters (15-1) in the pole vault to take the win, and move into the overall lead at 6,344 points with two events remaining. Guerrant put up the second-best throw of the day in the javelin at 52.17 meters (171-2) to maintain his lead and sit at 6,965 points with one event left. Guerrant closed strong down the stretch in the 1,500-meters, the last of a 10-event weekend, to clock 4:42.17 and win the decathlon title.
Junior Asya Reynolds opened day two of the women's heptathlon competition with a mark of 5.85 meters (19-2 ½) in the long jump to total 3,914 points with two events left. She followed with a new career-best of more than two meters in the javelin with a mark of 36.80 meters (120-9) to sit in third place at 4,520 points with only the 800-meter run remaining. Reynolds wrapped up her first heptathlon of the season with a time of 2:24.11 in the 800-meters and tally a total of 5,289 points.
Track Events:
The Spartans placed two runners in the top four of the men's 1,500-meter invite with Kiprotich taking the win and sophomore Morgan Beadlescomb turning in a new career-best time of 3:45.27 to take fourth place.
Junior Carlyn Arteaga moved to the outside around the final turn, and overtook two runners down the stretch to win her heat of the women's 800-meter invite and post the top time of the event at 2:07.61. The time for Artega was just six tenths of a second off a new personal record.
A Spartan trio ran to top times in the women's 1,500-meter invite section with junior Annie Fuller racing to a new lifetime best 4:17.18, improving her top-20 time in the NCAA this year. Senior Erin McDonald crossed the line in 4:25.30 (16th) and senior Kayla Kavulich was right behind her with a time of 4:25.75 (17th).
In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior Winter Romeyn pulled away from the pack on the bell lap and eased to victory in heat two with a time of 9:03.47, placing eighth overall in the event.
Senior Will Agodu broke out with a new career-best time of 13.90 in the men's 110-meter hurdles to take second place after just missing the win at the line. Agodu's time is currently in the top-15 of the East Region so far this season. Senior Devin McKinney ran a season-best 14.33 seconds, just a hundredth of a second off his career-best.
"I thought our men's hurdlers were an important bright spot, because Devin (McKinney) and Will (Agodu) are both good," Drenth said. "It took them a little bit of time to get in sync, but they did a nice job of being better today. Will's time is good and we see quite a bit more coming from him. Devin got some momentum and that's important for us a program that he goes well, but also important for him. He's paid his dues and has done a nice job for us as a leader."
Senior Taylor Mullins recorded a season-best time in the women's 400-meter hurdle invite, clocking 59.79 to take fourth place, her second time under one minute so far this season.
In the 200 meters, sophomore Brooke Bogan ran 24.63 to take 13th on the women's side, while freshmen Joe Stevens (22.01, 23rd) and Peirre Brown (22.17, 31st) ran for the Spartans on the men's side.
Closing out a long day of action on the track, was the men's 5,000-meter run with sophomore Joe Riordan coming up just seconds short of a personal record with a time of 14:30.37. In the same race, junior Matt Thomas returned to the track for the first time since suffering a broken ankle in December, and battled to clock 14:47.43 in a race that didn't end until 10:30 p.m.
"That might be the story of the day with Matt coming back," Drenth said. "The guy broke his ankle and sometimes you don't come back from that. He got out here and ran courageously, I even gave him the option to pull off and he wanted to finish. Good for him. He showed good maturity and I'm proud of him."
Field Events:
In the high jump, senior Ellen DiPietro cleared a top bar of 1.78 meters (5-10) to take second place, just missing the next bar that would have tied a season-high and given her the win. DiPietro took third to open the season at the Raleigh Relays and second each of the last two weekends, after being the runner-up at the Louisville Invitational a week ago.
Junior Jon Edwards posted a new career-best leap of 7.43 meters (24-4 ½) in the men's open long jump, the top mark of the first flight. Edwards couldn't improve on the mark in the finals and took fifth place for MSU.
In the women's open long jump, freshman Olivia Lopez posted the top mark of the first flight at 5.63 meters (18-5 ¾) and followed with a new personal best jump of 5.71 meters (18-8 ¾) in the finals to grab sixth place.
The Spartans wrap up regular season competition next Friday-Saturday, April 26-27, at the Jesse Owens Classic in Columbus, Ohio.
Players Mentioned
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
High Jump
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
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