Spartan Track and Field to Compete at Power Five Invitational This Weekend

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State track and field returns to competition this weekend at the Power Five Invitational on Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1 at the U-M Indoor Track Building in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

After two weeks of practice following the Simmons-Harvey Invitational, the Spartans will make the trip to Ann Arbor and look to improve since the last meet.

"Fully engaged; fearless. We have to be good at the end of every meet and a sign of a team's toughness is what happens with an hour to go because most people by then, if they are continuing to compete, have already run in an event or two," Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Walt Drenth said. "It's a matter of are they able to sustain their energy and stay focused and be in a positive frame so they can get up and go when we need them to. If may be that we need people that didn't think they were going to be leaned on to be ready to go. It's really more of a mental preparation."

The other competing teams represent three of the Power Five conferences - ACC, Big Ten and SEC - and includes Louisville, Michigan, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Northwestern and Notre Dame.

"I think it's important to see the national level of competition," Drenth said. "I think that the point of reference has to be a high bar. We're at a place where there's teams from a number of good conferences and it gives us a good point of reference; what our expectations should be."

The two-day meet will begin with 60m dash and hurdles prelims on Friday at 12 p.m. and conclude with the 4x400m relay on Saturday afternoon.

// Last Time Out //
Six Spartans earned event titles among top Big Ten competition at the Simmons-Harvey Invitational, compiled of three wins on the track and three in the field events.

The Michigan State distance crew led the way for the Spartans, with senior Jeralyn Poe, graduate transfer Sarah Anderson and junior Morgan Beadlescomb earning titles in their first meet of the indoor track season.

Beadlescomb and Poe continued their successes from the cross country course, to earn first-place finishes in their respective events. Beadlescomb kicked things off on the track by winning the men's mile with a time of 4:11.94, pulling away down the final stretch for the first-place finish.

Poe set a Simmons-Harvey Invitational meet record and topped her personal-best in the 3,000m, clocking in at 9:19.82. Poe and Michigan's Erica VanderLende battled throughout the first 1,500m before Poe pulled away and never looked back to best her previous career-best by over seven seconds.

Competing in her first race as a Spartan, Anderson captured the women's 800m title, clocking in at 2:10.14, for the seventh-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

On the field, three Spartans earned victories - junior Sophia Franklin in the women's pole vault (3.88m), junior Rebecca Mammel in the weight throw (21.10m) and senior Asya Reynolds (5.86m) in the women's long jump.

// Live Coverage //
Live results will be available at http://results.deltatiming.com/michigan. Recaps of Michigan State's performances and results will posted at MSUSpartans.com after the conclusion of the meet.

// Up Next //
The Spartans will compete at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Indiana and the SPIRE Division I Invitational in Geneva, Ohio next weekend from Friday, Feb. 7 to Saturday, Feb. 8 for the first split weekend of the season.

Spartan Track and Field to Compete at Power Five Invitational This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Anderson

Morgan Beadlescomb

Sophia Franklin

Rebecca Mammel

Jeralyn Poe

Asya Reynolds