Three Spartans Advance to Quarterfinals of NCAA East Preliminary Round

Thursday, May 23

Jacksonville, Fla.

Michigan State University

NCAA First Round

Three Spartans Advance to Quarterfinals of NCAA East Preliminary Round

5/23/2019 11:19:00 PM | Track and Field

East Prelim Central Live Results Watch Live ($)Heat Sheets

Michigan State continues action in Jacksonville Friday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - On the first day of action at the NCAA East Preliminary Round, three Michigan State track & field athletes advanced to the quarterfinals at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday.

👀 Watch what Coach Drenth had to say about Day 1️⃣ of the NCAA East Prelims!! #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/LC20TJ7PKh
— MSU Track & Field/XC (@MSUTrackFieldXC) May 24, 2019

Track Events
Michigan State was stellar in the men's and women's 1,500m. On the women's side, MSU had four athletes running in the 1,500m with juniors Annie Fuller and Dillon McClintock advancing. Fuller finished second in the first heat with at time of 4:20.79 to qualify automatically. Senior Kayla Kavulich finished 11th in the heat with a time of 4:34.17. McClintock won the fourth and final heat, clocking in at 4:19.73. This was just the second 1,500m race of the season for McClintock, finishing sixth overall. Junior Carlyn Arteaga was 10th in the second heat with a time of 4:29.81.4.

🗣 A VERY excited Dillon McClintock talks about reaching the quarterfinals in the 1,500m with teammate Annie Fuller #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/hx1JkSzrpa
— MSU Track & Field/XC (@MSUTrackFieldXC) May 24, 2019

"Annie and Dillon are just both so good, and they had good performances at the conference meet. They both have had good training, and they made a lot of good decisions today. I thought they had a good chance to advance, and I think they have a good chance to advance on Saturday. They were just really smart and patient," MSU Director of Track & Field Walt Drenth said.

Senior Justine Kiprotich automatically qualified for the quarterfinal in the men's 1,500m with a time of 3:46.91, finishing eighth overall. Running in the first heat, Kiprotich took third in the heat. He is looking for his third-straight trip to the NCAA Finals.

On the track, the Spartans got things started with the 400m hurdles with senior Taylor Mullins competing for the final time in the Spartan Green and White. She finished 33rd with a time of 1:00.53, coming out of the first heat. In the men's 400m hurdles, junior Noah Burton was 34th with a time of 52.16, just shy of his personal-best time of 52.10 set at the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City.

In the Spartans' final event of the night, Michigan State had a quartet of athletes in the women's 10,000m race. Junior Jeralyn Poe was MSU's top finisher, clocking in at 34:48.18, which was good for 19th place.

Field Events
Senior Ellen DiPietro made her fourth and final appearance in the NCAA Prelims in the high jump, just narrowly missing out on advancing to the NCAA Finals. In her first attempt, she cleared 1.70m. It took three attempts, but the senior cleared 1.75 on her final attempt. As the bar moved to what would have been a personal best, DiPietro was not able to clear 1.80m.

Making his second appearance in the NCAA East Preliminary Round, sophomore Nick Kramer finished eighth in the second flight and 23rd overall with his first throw of 59.32m. Freshman Trevor Stephenson got his first taste of the NCAA Preliminary Round in the pole vault. He cleared his first height of 4.81m on his first attempt, but was unable to clear the next height of 4.96m.

The Spartans continue action on Friday, May 24 with sophomore Jerimiah Evans in the men's discus at 4 p.m. On the track, Michigan State will begin action with senior Will Agodu in the 110m hurdles at 4:30 p.m. The Spartans will conclude the night with a pair of athletes in the women's 3,000m steeplechase in juniors Karrigan Smith and Mackenzie Weiler.