Stephenson Named Second Team All-American on Day 1 of NCAA Championships

EUGENE, Ore. – Pole vaulter Trevor Stephenson highlighted a strong start for the Spartan men, as the Michigan State track and field team wrapped up the first day of the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

For Stephenson, an outdoor personal-record vault earned him Second Team All-American honors for the second-straight outdoor season, while John Petruno locked up a spot in the men's 1500m finals on Friday night with his own personal best mark.

In the final event of the day for MSU, Stephenson improved upon his 2021 performance in Eugene and finished 10th in the nation, clearing the 4.45m bar on his second attempt after successfully vaulting over the previous four bar progressions. While he was unable to clear the 5.50m on three attempts and continue battling for a podium spot, the Spartan became the first MSU men's vaulter in program history to record Outdoor All-American honors in back-to-back seasons. Hand his 10th-place finish is the highest-ever finish for a Spartan men's vaulter at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Opening up the four-day spectacle in Eugene was the men's decathlon's 100m dash, where Ryan Talbot ran a 10.78 in the second heat to take fifth overall, and Heath Baldwin posted an 11.31 time in the first heat to wind up in 20th overall.

Both decathletes struggled when the competition moved to the long jump, as Talbot was 19th after recording 6.75m on his second attempt and Baldwin finished 21st with a 6.69m top jump in his final try. Baldwin helped himself by taking sixth in the shot put with a 14.46m toss on his second attempt and Talbot ended in 17th by posting a 13.03m mark on his second toss.

In the final two decathlon events of the opening day, Baldwin posted another sixth-place performance, clearing the 2.01m bar on his third attempt after getting the 1.95m and 1.98m bars on his second try at each, and then ran a 51.76 in the 400m to finish 21st. For Talbot, he successfully got over the first five bar progressions and then made his first attempt at 1.89m in the high jump to take 16th, but he made it up with a fifth-place and personal-best time of 47.52 in the 400m to end his first day. Talbot ended the first day of competition in 12th place with 3,972 points, while Baldwin stands 16th with 3,839 points.

Petruno raced his way into Friday's NCAA finals for the men's 1500m, surging forward in the final 400 meters to briefly take the lead and finish fifth in the second heat. He set a new personal record along the way at 3:39.64 that put him 11th among the 12 finals qualifiers. Already securing at least Second Team All-American status, Petruno will go for a national title at 9:12 p.m. (ET) on Friday. He is the first Spartan to reach the NCAA men's 1500m finals since Justine Kiprotich did it three-straight seasons from 2017-19.

Michigan State continues action at the NCAA Championships tomorrow, with the second day of the men's decathlon competition and the first day of women's events. The full events schedule can be found on NCAA.com.

Stephenson Named Second Team All-American on Day 1 of NCAA Championships

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Players Mentioned

Heath Baldwin

John Petruno

Trevor Stephenson

Ryan Talbot