Wednesday, May 22
Lexington, Ky.
Michigan State University
at
NCAA East First Round
Baldwin Qualifies for Final on First Day of NCAA Track & Field Regional
5/22/2024 10:46:00 PM | Track and Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Five Spartans kicked off the NCAA East First Round with graduate student Heath Baldwin leading the way with a qualification into the 110 hurdles. Seven MSU women will kick off their first day of competition on Thursday.
With the men's preliminaries in the books, the MSU women get underway on Thursday starting at 6 p.m., as the additional men's finals are on Friday and women's finals on Saturday. All of the action across the four days will be streamed live on ESPN+. Weather may inflict upon event scheduled start times.
If the Spartans place within the top 12 in their event, they advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the famed Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from June 5-8, where they will meet the top 12 finishers from the West Regional, being held in Fayetteville, Ark..
On Wednesday, Baldwin put himself in a good spot for one of those 12 spots in the 110m hurdles, clinching a start in the event finals after finishing 2nd in his heat, 12th among 24 qualifiers in 13.80 seconds.
Also on the day, sophomore Colby Morlock finished 18th in the shot put, graduate student CarLee Stimpfel finished his decorated collegiate career 38th in the 10,000m and junior Noah Sage failed to make it out of his 200m preliminary. Sophomore Adam Blue no-heighted in his first career NCAA regional pole vault event.
Highlighting the seven Spartans competing on Thursday is graduate student Lauren Freeland. Freeland aims for her second straight NCAA Championships appearance in the 1500m, finishing as an NCAA All-American in Austin in 2023. It was the Kent City, Mich. native's Big Ten Championship-winning time of 4:14.55 that qualified her for her third career NCAA prelim. At last year's NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Fla., Freeland crossed the finish line in 12th with a time of 4:14.28, a PR that still holds today.
Sophomore Sophia Mettes' pole vault personal record came in Lexington, Ky. on the runways at Shively Track and Field Stadium, a massive 4.27m clearance at the Jim Green Invite (April 19-20). The mark qualified her for the NCAA East First Round, right back where she set her career mark. The native of Dexter, Mich. returns with the ninth seeded mark in the region and best by a Spartan this season following a down indoor season.
An MSU shot put school record-holding duo takes on the East region field in the event at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Freshman Jessica Stieb, who broke the indoor shot record at 16.60m in her first ever collegiate try, is seeded 28th at 16 meters flat. Junior Opal Jackson, the outdoor record holder at 17.06m, no-distanced at the 2023 NCAA Championships and is seeded 42nd at 15.52m.
Walk-on senior Shae Harbaugh is 45th in the region in the 800m behind a 2:06.09 mark that was a personal best and landed her on the podium at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.. Harbaugh competes in her first NCAA's event, but was a leg in the Big Ten Indoor Championship DMR relay team in February.
Sophomore Natalie Blake has broken onto the scene in the 2023-24 seasons, her pole vault PB of 4.07m qualifying her as the 37th seed at the preliminaries. The mark was achieved at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships where she was the first Spartan to score for the women. Her PR is 4.25m, however, achieved during the indoor season.
Senior Kaia Scheffler also scored surprise points for MSU at the conference championships behind a personal best mark. Her 100m hurdles time of 13.41 saw her finish sixth in the Big Ten and qualify for her first career NCAA Championship event.
Tentative MSU Schedule
// Women //
Name Event Seed Mark Date - Time (ET)
Shae Harbaugh 800m 45 2:06.09 Thurs., 7:50 p.m.
Sat., 7:05 p.m.
Lauren Freeland 1500m 24 4:14.55 Thurs., 6:30 p.m. Sat., 5:15 p.m.
Katie Osika 5000m 9 15:39.01 Sat., 8:10 p.m.
Kaia Scheffler 100m Hurdles 40 13.41 Thu., 6 p.m.
Sat., 6:35 p.m.
Sophia Mettes Pole Vault 8 4.27m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Natalie Blake Pole Vault 37 4.07m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Jessica Stieb Shot Put 28 16.00m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Opal Jackson Shot Put 42 15.52m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Discus 40 51.08m Sat. 1 p.m.
// Men //
Name Event Seed Mark Date - Time (ET)
Noah Sage 200m 42 20.66 Wed., 8:45 p.m.
Fri., 7:50 p.m.
CarLee Stimpfel 10,000m 45 28:56.92 Wed., 9:10 p.m.
Heath Baldwin 110m Hurdles 26 13.77 Wed., 6 p.m.
Fri., 6:15 p.m.
Andrew Nolan Steeplechase 20 8:45.33 Fri., 5:45 p.m.
Tyler Pritchett Steeplechase 38 8:52.76 Fri., 5:45 p.m.
Brady Schultz High Jump 36 2.11m Fri., 2 p.m.
Adam Blue Pole Vault 46 5.12m Wed., 3 p.m.
Colby Morlock Shot Put 26 18.53m Wed., 5:30 p.m.
Dalton DeBeau Discus 29 56.34m Fri., 1 p.m.
With the men's preliminaries in the books, the MSU women get underway on Thursday starting at 6 p.m., as the additional men's finals are on Friday and women's finals on Saturday. All of the action across the four days will be streamed live on ESPN+. Weather may inflict upon event scheduled start times.
If the Spartans place within the top 12 in their event, they advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the famed Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from June 5-8, where they will meet the top 12 finishers from the West Regional, being held in Fayetteville, Ark..
On Wednesday, Baldwin put himself in a good spot for one of those 12 spots in the 110m hurdles, clinching a start in the event finals after finishing 2nd in his heat, 12th among 24 qualifiers in 13.80 seconds.
Also on the day, sophomore Colby Morlock finished 18th in the shot put, graduate student CarLee Stimpfel finished his decorated collegiate career 38th in the 10,000m and junior Noah Sage failed to make it out of his 200m preliminary. Sophomore Adam Blue no-heighted in his first career NCAA regional pole vault event.
Highlighting the seven Spartans competing on Thursday is graduate student Lauren Freeland. Freeland aims for her second straight NCAA Championships appearance in the 1500m, finishing as an NCAA All-American in Austin in 2023. It was the Kent City, Mich. native's Big Ten Championship-winning time of 4:14.55 that qualified her for her third career NCAA prelim. At last year's NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Fla., Freeland crossed the finish line in 12th with a time of 4:14.28, a PR that still holds today.
Sophomore Sophia Mettes' pole vault personal record came in Lexington, Ky. on the runways at Shively Track and Field Stadium, a massive 4.27m clearance at the Jim Green Invite (April 19-20). The mark qualified her for the NCAA East First Round, right back where she set her career mark. The native of Dexter, Mich. returns with the ninth seeded mark in the region and best by a Spartan this season following a down indoor season.
An MSU shot put school record-holding duo takes on the East region field in the event at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Freshman Jessica Stieb, who broke the indoor shot record at 16.60m in her first ever collegiate try, is seeded 28th at 16 meters flat. Junior Opal Jackson, the outdoor record holder at 17.06m, no-distanced at the 2023 NCAA Championships and is seeded 42nd at 15.52m.
Walk-on senior Shae Harbaugh is 45th in the region in the 800m behind a 2:06.09 mark that was a personal best and landed her on the podium at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.. Harbaugh competes in her first NCAA's event, but was a leg in the Big Ten Indoor Championship DMR relay team in February.
Sophomore Natalie Blake has broken onto the scene in the 2023-24 seasons, her pole vault PB of 4.07m qualifying her as the 37th seed at the preliminaries. The mark was achieved at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships where she was the first Spartan to score for the women. Her PR is 4.25m, however, achieved during the indoor season.
Senior Kaia Scheffler also scored surprise points for MSU at the conference championships behind a personal best mark. Her 100m hurdles time of 13.41 saw her finish sixth in the Big Ten and qualify for her first career NCAA Championship event.
Tentative MSU Schedule
// Women //
Name Event Seed Mark Date - Time (ET)
Shae Harbaugh 800m 45 2:06.09 Thurs., 7:50 p.m.
Sat., 7:05 p.m.
Lauren Freeland 1500m 24 4:14.55 Thurs., 6:30 p.m. Sat., 5:15 p.m.
Katie Osika 5000m 9 15:39.01 Sat., 8:10 p.m.
Kaia Scheffler 100m Hurdles 40 13.41 Thu., 6 p.m.
Sat., 6:35 p.m.
Sophia Mettes Pole Vault 8 4.27m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Natalie Blake Pole Vault 37 4.07m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Jessica Stieb Shot Put 28 16.00m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Opal Jackson Shot Put 42 15.52m Thu., 6:30 p.m.
Discus 40 51.08m Sat. 1 p.m.
// Men //
Name Event Seed Mark Date - Time (ET)
Noah Sage 200m 42 20.66 Wed., 8:45 p.m.
Fri., 7:50 p.m.
CarLee Stimpfel 10,000m 45 28:56.92 Wed., 9:10 p.m.
Heath Baldwin 110m Hurdles 26 13.77 Wed., 6 p.m.
Fri., 6:15 p.m.
Andrew Nolan Steeplechase 20 8:45.33 Fri., 5:45 p.m.
Tyler Pritchett Steeplechase 38 8:52.76 Fri., 5:45 p.m.
Brady Schultz High Jump 36 2.11m Fri., 2 p.m.
Adam Blue Pole Vault 46 5.12m Wed., 3 p.m.
Colby Morlock Shot Put 26 18.53m Wed., 5:30 p.m.
Dalton DeBeau Discus 29 56.34m Fri., 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
Multi-Event
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints/Hurdles
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ 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