Magness and Beadlescomb Win 10,000m Debuts on First Day of the B1G Championships

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – It was another banner night for the Michigan State track and field team on the opening day of the 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at the University of Minnesota Track & Field Stadium, featuring a pair of 10,000m titles and a runner-up finish in the women's hammer throw.

MSU's day started with Quiara Wheeler using a season-best toss to place second in the women's hammer throw, while defending B1G 5,000m champions Jenna Magness and Morgan Beadlescomb were both crowned Big Ten champions in their track debuts at the 10,000m distance.

"When the day starts out with one of your best athletes getting a silver medal in Quiara and really coming through in a confident fashion, it just sets a tone for what we're going for," said Director of Track and Field Lisa Breznau. "It really builds the momentum heading all the way to the finish, with Jenna and Morgan finishing out things by both getting first place in their first 10,000-meter races as well. Really exciting things so far. I think there are a few things we have to clean up for the next couple days, but I'm really proud of the way today's group behaved."

The first Spartan to compete in the conference meet was Ryan Talbot, who opened the men's decathlon in style, using a personal-record 10.60 time to take the top spot in the first event, the 100m dash, and followed it by placing second in the decathlon's long jump at another PR of 7.06m. Talbot then took fifth in the shot put at 13.20m, used a PR of 1.91m in the high jump claim fourth in that event, and wrapped up the first half of the decathlon with a second-place finish in the 400m dash at a personal-best 47.82, putting him second overall at the halfway point of the decathlon with 4100 points.

Heath Baldwin also set a new PR in the 100m dash with a 11.17 time that put him seventh, and he then took seventh in the long jump at 6.68m. Baldwin's best performances of the day came in the shot put and the high jump, as he recorded a season-best 14.80m distance in the shot put to place first and won the high jump portion by clearing the 2.03m bar on his first try, being the only decathlete to reach that mark. He then finished the day by taking 10th in the 400m dash at 51.87, putting him third (3900 points) heading into the final five events on Saturday.

In the first day of heptathlon action, Avery Budz placed 12th in the 100m hurdles at 18.19, but bounced back by taking fifth in the high jump at 1.65m before finishing ninth in the shot put with a 9.65m PR and placing 12th in the 200m dash at 26.75. Budz heads into Saturday with 2504 heptathlon points.

Opening the field events was the women's hammer throw, where Wheeler used a 63.80m throw on her second attempt and a season-best 63.95m toss on her third attempt to eventually finish as the runner-up to B1G champion Amanda Howe of Iowa (64.84m). For Joshua DeVries in the men's hammer throw, he recorded a 59.22m mark on his second attempt to finish in 12th.

The women's pole vault saw Calli Ostapowicz clear the 3.83m bar on her first attempt but go 0-for-3 at the 3.98m height to finish 15th, while defending B1G champion Sophia Franklin also went 0-for-3 on the 3.98m bar.

The first Spartan on the track was Kendel Hammock, who posted a 56.12 in the preliminary heats of the men's 400m hurdles. Shakira Dancy then finished the women's 200m prelims at a time of 24.49, while Antonio Postell II ended up posting a 21.85 time in the men's 200m preliminaries. None of the three advanced to Sunday's finals.

A pair of Spartans paced the preliminary field in the women's 1500m, as Katie Osika established an early lead and quickly retook it after Penn State's Madaline Ullom briefly passed her, winning the opening heat at 4:22.08. In the third and final heat, teammate Lauren Freeland was able to get to the front of the pack at run the top preliminary mark of 4:21.62 to claim an automatic qualification to Sunday's finals alongside Osika.

John Petruno was the lone MSU runner to advance to the finals of the men's 1500m, as he battled out of a tough position in the pack early in the second heat to take the lead at one point, eventually placing second in the heat at 3:51.64 to be an automatic finals qualifier.

In the women's 10,000m finals, Magness got the front of the field early on alongside teammate Lynsie Gram and Magness continued to add to her lead the entire race, finishing at a 33:37.17 mark to claim the Big Ten Championship in her debut at the distance that put her almost a full minute ahead of runner-up Sophia Toti of Penn State. For Gram, she held on to place seventh and make it on the podium with a 34:50.64 time, while Emily Bardwell also made her debut at 10,000m with a 12th-place finish of 35:22.39.

The men's 10,000m finals featured a signature late push by Beadlescomb, who took the lead with around 600m left in the race and sprinted the final 200m to cross the finish line in 28:54.93, claiming the Big Ten title in his first track race at the distance. Abdi-Fetah Ahmed almost joined Beadlescomb on the podium by placing ninth at a personal-record 29.27.27, while Fraser Wilson came in 16th at 29.59.51 and Steven Stine followed in 19th with a 30.07.84 PR time.

"It was incredible to watch Jenna and Morgan tonight," added Breznau. "They've been every bit of what it means to be a Spartan. I have to just say that it has been great for Aaron Simoneau and I to help them sustain this, but I think we really have to give the credit to former program director Walt Drenth, who really got them going in the first place. He was our mentor and their mentor, and every bit of what they just did is because of him."

Magness became the first Spartan woman to win the conference title in the 10,000m since Jamie Krzyminski in 2004 and the only the third all-time, joining Krzyminski and 1987 champion Mary Shea. On the men's side, Beadlescomb is the first Spartan to claim the men's 10,000m crown since Kyle Baker's 1999 title and became the fifth MSU runner all-time to win the Big Ten men's 10,000m race.

Magness also joins Krzyminski as the only Spartan women to claim both 5,000m and 10,000m conference titles in their career, while Beadlescomb joins Baker in that same exclusive club in the MSU men's record books.

The Big Ten Outdoor Championships continue on Saturday, May 14, with the men's decathlon 110m hurdles kicking the day off at 10 a.m. CT.

Magness and Beadlescomb Win 10,000m Debuts on First Day of the B1G Championships

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Players Mentioned

Abdi-Fetah Ahmed

Heath Baldwin

Emily Bardwell

Morgan Beadlescomb

Avery Budz

Shakira Dancy

Joshua DeVries

Sophia Franklin

Lauren Freeland

Lynsie Gram

Kendel Hammock

Jenna Magness

Katie Osika

Calli Ostapowicz

John Petruno

Antonio Postell II

Steven Stine

Ryan Talbot

Quiara Wheeler

Fraser Wilson