Saturday, February 15
Nashville, TN
All Day
Michigan State University
at
Music City Challenge
Spartan Track & Field Concludes Competition at Music City Challenge
2/15/2020 11:23:00 PM | Track and Field
The MSU distance squad registered three event titles over the weekend.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Michigan State track and field concluded the Music City Challenge on Saturday with plenty of personal bests around the track and two event titles on the second day of competition.
"As a group across the board, there were a lot of improvements and it was really exciting to see. We had a lot of PR's and we had a lot of PR's from athletes who have been struggling to put it together. It's great to come to this meet and have this happen, which will create some confidence and momentum going into the Big Ten meet in a couple weeks," Associate Head Coach Lisa Senakiewich said. "As a complete track and field team, there are a lot of moving parts; to keep building the sense of team is really important. On our team across all events, they are on their own shoulders and working on building relationships; that is a really positive thing to see this season and that definitely shined through."
The Spartan distance squad continued to show consistency with numerous runners achieving personal bests and two earning event titles. In the first day of competition, senior Jeralyn Poe won the women's 5,000m race. Poe turned in a personal best of 16:06.72 for the first event title of the meet.
"There are a couple things that you wish you could tweak and look at differently. The biggest thing for them is to keep learning and not define their season by how it went today. It's just information and feedback," Senakiewich said. "We keep moving forward as long as we learn something. We are pleased with how the group is doing and we've got more work to do at the same time."
Senior Karrigan Smith topped the field in the women's 3,000m, turning in a time of 9:33.92.
Junior Lindsey Rudden won the 800m title, behind a PR of 2:04.86. Rudden is currently ranked in the top eight in the nation with her new PR. Also in the 800m, senior Dillon McClintock ran a season best of 2:06.20 for third place.
The Spartan men distance runners also continued improvement off last weekend's competition at the Meyo Invitational.
Sophomore John Petruno set another PR this week in the 3,000m, clocking in at 8:13.93, in the fastest section of the event. Sophomore Jalen Smith won his section in the men's 800m, turning in a new personal best of 1:53.76 for 12 overall.
Off the blocks, junior Brooke Bogan (60m dash) along with senior Asya Reynolds (60m hurdles) and freshman Kendel Hammock (60m hurdles) all advanced to the finals on the women's side.
After winning her heat in the prelims in 7.56, Bogan placed fifth overall, turning in a time of 7.55 in the finals. Hammock also placed third overall, earning a new PR of 8.00 in the finals.
Reynolds, who set a new school record in the pentathlon earlier this season, placed fifth in the 60m hurdles, putting up a time of 8.51. Reynolds won her heat in the prelims earlier in the day setting the PR of 8.51.
In the field events, junior Kayli Johnson took bronze honors, with a mark of 16.02. Sophomore Rebecca Mammel also earned bronze accolades in the weight throw with a throw of 20.88m.
On the men's side, junior Jerimiah Evans represented the throwers, placing sixth in the shot put with a throw of 18.24m.
In the women's invitational pole vault, sophomore Calli Ostapowicz vaulted over 13 feet for the first time in competition to earn a sixth-place finish with a mark of 4.01m. For the men, sophomore Trevor Stephenson took fifth with a mark of 5.05m.
UP NEXT
The Spartans are now just two weeks away from the Big Ten Indoor Championships that will take place from Feb. 28-29 in Geneva, Ohio.
"As a group across the board, there were a lot of improvements and it was really exciting to see. We had a lot of PR's and we had a lot of PR's from athletes who have been struggling to put it together. It's great to come to this meet and have this happen, which will create some confidence and momentum going into the Big Ten meet in a couple weeks," Associate Head Coach Lisa Senakiewich said. "As a complete track and field team, there are a lot of moving parts; to keep building the sense of team is really important. On our team across all events, they are on their own shoulders and working on building relationships; that is a really positive thing to see this season and that definitely shined through."
The Spartan distance squad continued to show consistency with numerous runners achieving personal bests and two earning event titles. In the first day of competition, senior Jeralyn Poe won the women's 5,000m race. Poe turned in a personal best of 16:06.72 for the first event title of the meet.
"There are a couple things that you wish you could tweak and look at differently. The biggest thing for them is to keep learning and not define their season by how it went today. It's just information and feedback," Senakiewich said. "We keep moving forward as long as we learn something. We are pleased with how the group is doing and we've got more work to do at the same time."
Senior Karrigan Smith topped the field in the women's 3,000m, turning in a time of 9:33.92.
Junior Lindsey Rudden won the 800m title, behind a PR of 2:04.86. Rudden is currently ranked in the top eight in the nation with her new PR. Also in the 800m, senior Dillon McClintock ran a season best of 2:06.20 for third place.
The Spartan men distance runners also continued improvement off last weekend's competition at the Meyo Invitational.
Sophomore John Petruno set another PR this week in the 3,000m, clocking in at 8:13.93, in the fastest section of the event. Sophomore Jalen Smith won his section in the men's 800m, turning in a new personal best of 1:53.76 for 12 overall.
Off the blocks, junior Brooke Bogan (60m dash) along with senior Asya Reynolds (60m hurdles) and freshman Kendel Hammock (60m hurdles) all advanced to the finals on the women's side.
After winning her heat in the prelims in 7.56, Bogan placed fifth overall, turning in a time of 7.55 in the finals. Hammock also placed third overall, earning a new PR of 8.00 in the finals.
Reynolds, who set a new school record in the pentathlon earlier this season, placed fifth in the 60m hurdles, putting up a time of 8.51. Reynolds won her heat in the prelims earlier in the day setting the PR of 8.51.
In the field events, junior Kayli Johnson took bronze honors, with a mark of 16.02. Sophomore Rebecca Mammel also earned bronze accolades in the weight throw with a throw of 20.88m.
On the men's side, junior Jerimiah Evans represented the throwers, placing sixth in the shot put with a throw of 18.24m.
In the women's invitational pole vault, sophomore Calli Ostapowicz vaulted over 13 feet for the first time in competition to earn a sixth-place finish with a mark of 4.01m. For the men, sophomore Trevor Stephenson took fifth with a mark of 5.05m.
UP NEXT
The Spartans are now just two weeks away from the Big Ten Indoor Championships that will take place from Feb. 28-29 in Geneva, Ohio.
Players Mentioned
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and FieldProcess Oriented | Spartans All-Access
Wednesday, April 02
Track & Field | Big Ten Outdoor Championship recap
Monday, May 13
Track & Field | Big Ten Outdoor Championships highlights
Saturday, May 11
Track & Field | Big Ten Outdoor Championships | Day 2
Saturday, May 11