Spartan Track & Field Set for Meyo Invitational

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State track and field heads to South Bend, Ind. for the Meyo Invitational on Friday, Feb. 7 and Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Loftus Sports Center.

The two-day meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 and 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8. The meet will get underway with field events and preliminary running events on Friday afternoon, before resuming with running events on Saturday morning.

Michigan State will be competing against athletes from Butler, Central Arkansas, Central Michigan, Chicago State, DePaul, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Indiana, Indiana State, Loyola (Ill.), McNeese State, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Oakland, Ohio State, Rutgers, SIUE and Wisconsin.

The Meyo Invitational is one of the premier meets in collegiate indoor track and field, featuring quality competition from across the region and throughout multiple conferences. A feature of the event is the Meyo Mile on Saturday afternoon, which gives fans a chance to line the track and cheer on the runners in what is always a competitive field.

With only three weeks of competition left prior to the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Geneva, Ohio, the Spartans are looking to make improvement in all events.

"We have a descending order list in the Big Ten, and we need to move up," Director of Cross Country and Track and Field Walt Drenth said. "Everyone needs to get better because we're going to get measured by scoring. I think our expectations are that the kids that look like they are some of the top kids in the conference have to move up. Our expectations over the next couple of weeks are we have to move more people in there."

// Last Time Out //
In a meet that featured a mix of collegiate and professional athletes, Michigan State track and field held their own and remained competitive to close out the Power Five Invitational from the U-M Indoor Track Building, collecting three total event titles and setting multiple personal bests.

Along with professional athletes, Michigan State competed against athletes from Louisville, Michigan, Mississippi State, North Carolina and Notre Dame, representing school's from three of the Power Five conferences.

In the first day of the meet, senior Asya Reynolds set a school-record, capturing the pentathlon title with a career-best 4,079 points. MSU looked to carry that momentum going into the second day of the meet.

In addition to Reynolds' pentathlon title, junior Morgan Beadlescomb won the men's 3,000m title and set a meet record, clocking in at 8:01.03, for a personal-best time.

Sophomore Trevor Stephenson continued the pole vault crew's success as he captured the men's title with a mark of 5.16m.

Michigan State saw six Spartans advance to the finals of the 60m dash and hurdles, including junior Brooke Bogan, who placed fifth with a time of 7.51 in the 60m dash.

"That's our expectation; that they sustain (their energy and competitiveness)," Drenth said. "Good teams come to work every time they have an opportunity to compete and that will be our expectation again."

// Live Coverage //
Live results will be available at http://www.enduranceracetiming.com/. Saturday's Meyo Invitational will be streamed live on espn.com, beginning at 2 p.m. until the conclusion of the meet. Recaps of Michigan State's performances and results will posted at MSUSpartans.com after the conclusion of the meet.

// Up Next //
Michigan State track and field returns to competition again next weekend, for the first split weekend of the season. MSU will travel to Nashville, Tennessee for the Commodore Invitational from Friday, Feb. 14 to Saturday, Feb. 15. Some Spartans will also stay local at The Big Meet in Allendale, Michigan on Feb. 14-15.

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Players Mentioned

Morgan Beadlescomb

Brooke Bogan

Asya Reynolds

Trevor Stephenson