Spartans Tally Two Event Winners at Simmons-Harvey Invitational

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Jenna Magness and Morgan Beadlescomb went back-to-back in winning the women's and men's one-mile races to highlight a handful of strong performances, as the Michigan State men's and women's indoor track & field teams returned to action in the Simmons-Harvey Invitational on Saturday at the UM Indoor Track Building.

"I think we had a solid day," said Director of Track & Field Lisa Breznau. "Just like any track meet, there are some really positive notes, and there's things that we certainly need to work on. As a team, we have to recognize the importance of having a high sense of urgency and purpose. That's something they're going to focus on through these next couple meets and at practice. But considering that we just got back to campus this Monday, there were a lot of promising things going on, and we're going to have people return to competition going forward that did not compete this weekend as we progress through this indoor season. I think both teams will be in a much more competitive place by the time we get to the Big Ten Championships."

MSU opened the day with Heath Baldwin placing second in the men's long jump with an indoor personal record of 6.77m, while Trevor Stephenson placed third in the men's pole vault with a height of 5.13m.

On the track, Aaron Dickason II took third place in the men's 60m hurdles with a PR time of 8.20, turning around and placing third in the men's 60m dash with another PR time of 7.08, while teammate Antonio Postell II grabbed second place with a 6.92 time. Noah Sage also posted a third-place finish in the 200m dash for the sprints team, while John Petruno just missed out on the podium in the 800m with a fourth-place time of 1:52.97.

The men had their highlight of the meet in the one-mile, as Beadlescomb made his indoor season debut by posting a 4:01.22 personal record that included a late push to win the race. MSU continued its success into the 3000m event, as Steven Stine put together a third-place finish with a PR time of 8:17.71.

Michigan State's women's side found the podium early on as Jaiden Paris placed third in the 60m hurdles at a time of 8.50, while Brooke Bogan and Ava Qe'Neisha Young both qualified for the 60m dash finals, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

The Spartans' other event winner in Magness won the women's one-mile at a personal record of 4:41.31, which was followed by Katie Osika finishing the 800m with a 2:10.51 time to land in third place and Casey Mossholder taking second place in the 3000m race at 9:43.80.

In the field events, Valadian Pallett was second in the weight throw at 16.76m, while the jumps team saw pole vaulter Sophia Franklin opt out of a jump-off, ending up in second place at a height of 4.12m. Also performing well for the jumps squad was Elizabeth Knoll placing third in the high jump at 1.63m.

MSU finished the team scoring in second place on the men's side, with its 117 points trailing only host Michigan (164), while the women were third (106) behind Michigan (140) and Notre Dame (109).

Up next for Michigan State is a trip back to Ann Arbor for the Michigan Invitational on Jan. 22.

Spartans Tally Two Event Winners at Simmons-Harvey Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Heath Baldwin

Morgan Beadlescomb

Brooke Bogan

Aaron Dickason II

Sophia Franklin

Elizabeth Knoll

Jenna Magness

Casey Mossholder

Katie Osika

Valadian Pallett

Jaiden Paris

John Petruno

Antonio Postell II

Noah Sage

Trevor Stephenson

Steven Stine

Ava Qe'Neisha Young