MSU Track & Field Begins Action at East Preliminary Round Thursday

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State track & field continues postseason action at the NCAA East Preliminary Round at the Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25. The Spartans have a total of 25 entries in the East Preliminaries.

"We have a lot of people who are veterans, and certainly have been in the fight, whether it is success at the Big Ten level or the national level. This is a nice group that we are taking. I think that a lot of them have a chance to advance. Will (Agodu) has a good chance; our intermediate hurdlers seem to be on a nice rise. I am looking to see how the whole group does," Director of track & field Walt Drenth said.

Events on Thursday, May 23 begin at 12 p.m. with the men's hammer throw and the women's javelin (trials and finals). Sophomore Nick Kramer will be the first Spartan in action with the men's hammer throw. On the track, senior Taylor Mullins will get Michigan State going with the first round of the 400m hurdles at 4:30 p.m. The Spartans will complete the first day of competition with four competing in the semifinals of the women's 10,000m at 9 p.m.

On the second day of action, events will start with the women's discus and the men's javelin at 12 p.m. MSU will start the day with the sophomore Jerimiah Evans in the men's discus at 4 p.m. The day will end for Michigan State with the women's steeplechase at 8:20 p.m. with Karrigan Smith and Mackenzie Weiler.

Competition concludes on Saturday, with action in the field and on the track. Field action begins at 2:45 p.m. with the men's shot put. On the track, quarterfinal action starts with the 4x100 women's relay at 6 p.m.

1 | EXPERIENCE LEADS THE WAY
Michigan State has a very experienced squad heading into the NCAA East Preliminary Round. Senior Ellen DiPetro (high jump) will take part in the high jump for the fourth time in her career. DiPietro comes into the East Prelims as the No. 15 seed with a season-high jump of (1.79m). Fellow senior Justine Kiprotich is fresh off his second Big Ten title in three seasons in the men's 1,500m. He is seeded fifth coming into Regionals with a time of 3:41.65.

"I would hope that things that we emphasize through the course of their career will be true this weekend, and that is primarily managing themselves. If you start thinking of it in its totality and worry about this being your last meet, it really encumbers you more than you need. They just need to go out there and see what their best looks like," Drenth added.

2 | THE DISTANCE SQUAD
The Spartans continue to have a strong distance tradition with senior Erin McDonald competing in the 5,000m. She is currently seeded eighth in the East Prelims. Freshman Jenna Magness will make her East Preliminary debut, joining McDonald in the 5,000m. For the third-straight season Karrigan Smith with run the 3,000m steeplechase, as she is currently seeded 10th in the event. Junior Mackenzie Weiler will join Smith in the steeplechase. MSU has four people competing in the women's 10,000, along with four in the women's 1,500m. There are also a duo of Spartans in the 3,000m steeple and two in the 5,000m.

On the men's side, sophomore Morgan Beadlescomb makes his East Preliminary debut, as the sixth seed in the men's 5,000m. Michigan State will also have a pair of hurdlers competing in Will Agodu in the 110m hurdles and Noah Burton in the 400m hurdles.

"The comfort level is really huge. The depth is attributed to many things, include Coach Senakiewich and her tireless efforts. We also have to attribute it to the kids expectations. They are coming here with the idea that they want to be national level kids. They train hard, and they work hard," Drenth said.

3 | WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Michigan State will have five people competing in the throws in the East Prelims. On the women's side sophomore Kayli Johnson and Nikole Sargent will compete in the shot put, while freshman Rebecca Mammel makes her first appearance in Regionals in the hammer throw. On the men's side, sophomores Nick Kramer and Jeremiah Evans are both making their second appearances in the East Prelims. Evans comes into the competition seeded third in the discus with as season-long and school record throw of 61.22m.

4 | BREAKING RECORDS
Senior Will Agodu is looking to end his Spartan career in style. Agodu won the Big Ten title in 110m hurdles in record breaking style with a time of 13.75. He broke the previous MSU record of 13.82 held by Gene Washington (1966) and Tony Gilbert (1981). Agodu advances to the NCAA East Prelims for the third-straight season.

"I do think that Will is growing in confidence, but I don't think that Will's success is an unusual as it may look from the outside. After the Big Ten Indoor Championship we really challenged him and the rest of the group. He did an outstanding job with trusting Coach (Yolanda) Johnson," Drenth added.

5 | WAITING TO EXHALE
Junior Asya Reynolds will not be competing in the NCAA East Prelims, but will head straight to the NCAA Finals in the heptathlon. She captured the Big Ten tile with a school record 5,520 points.

"For Asya it is just a matter of her getting better at everything. We have seen her improve in almost every event. She will have training sessions with Coach Johnson and Coach (Ceith) Creekmur, " Drenth said.

MSU Track & Field Begins Action at East Preliminary Round Thursday

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Players Mentioned

Will Agodu

Morgan Beadlescomb

Noah Burton

Jerimiah Evans

Kayli Johnson

Justine Kiprotich

Nick Kramer

Jenna Magness

Rebecca Mammel

Erin McDonald

Taylor Mullins

Asya Reynolds

Karrigan Smith

Mackenzie Weiler