EAST LANSING, Mich. – Spartan Track & Field will compete at three meets to wrap up the last week regular season competition, including the highly-touted 128th edition of Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. on Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27.
Select women's distance runners and members of the men's and women's throws crew will kick off the week at the GVSU Extra Weekend meet in a one-day competition in Allendale, Mich. Thursday. A handful of MSU jumpers and sprinters will compete at the Len Paddock Invitational on Saturday.
At last year's Penn Relays the Spartans broke three women's relays school records in the distance medley relays, 4x1500m relay and the 4x800m relay. The last time the MSU women raced the DMR, Shae Harbaugh, Abbey Carvey, Kate Stewart-Barnett and Lauren Freeland won the Big Ten Indoors title on Feb. 23.
The three meets will conclude the regular season for the Spartans ahead of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships which will take place from May 10-12 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Season Headlines Review
Jim Green Invite – April 19-20 | Lexington, Ky. & Virginia Challenge – April 19-20 | Charlottesville, Va. & Al Owens Classic – April 20 | Allendale, Mich.
Personal Bests Plentiful for Spartans at Weekend Meets, Pole Vaulters Shine
The distance squad accepted the challenge at the Virginia Challenge as the majority of Spartans collected PRs on the weekend. Several individual breakthroughs were made, including the return of junior Kaitlyn Hynes and the men sweeping wins in each of the four 1500m heats.
The sprints, throws and jumps teams meanwhile put the 'Green' in the Jim Green Invite in Lexington, Ky.. Spartans swept the pole vault victories as sophomore Sophia Mettes continued her continual growth with a 4.27m PR, winning the event by over a foot on Friday, ranking her as NCAA East Region No. 6. Sophomore Adam Blue topped the competition at 5.12m, his first time clearing five meters in his career. Junior Valadian Pallett won the hammer throw by .8 meters behind a PR of 54.82m.
Mt. SAC Relays – April 17-18 | Torrance, Calif.
Baldwin Meets Olympic Standard, Breaks Several Records
Heath Baldwin's decathlon score of 8470 at the Mt. SAC Relays poises him for the 2024 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, ranking as the U.S. No. 1, world No. 3 and NCAA seventh-best of all time.
The Kalamazoo, Mich. native's score over the ten events meets the Olympic standard and makes him the current Team USA Decathlon Olympic trials front-runner for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Baldwin breaks the Big Ten conference decathlon record and shatters his own MSU school record by 386 points, set at the 2023 Mt. SAC Relays. The graduate student used four personal best marks over the two-day competition (100m dash, long jump, 400m dash and javelin) to reset his school record overall score, with his javelin throw of 71.02m also breaking his school record in the event.
Bryan Clay Invite – April 11-13 |Azusa, Calif. & JMU Invite – April 13 | Harrisonburg, Va.
Track & Field Continues Success with 10 wins at JMU, Women Set PR's at Highly-Touted Bryan Clay
Michigan State Track and Field wrapped up a full weekend of action with 10 victories at the JMU Invite Saturday while three Spartans from the women's distance team recorded solid marks at the highly-touted Bryan Clay Invite.
Representing the green and white at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, Calif. junior Kate Stewart-Barnett in the 3000m Steeplechase Thursday and graduate student Katie Osika in the 5000m Friday both logged significant PR's among talented competition.
Spartan Invite – April 5 | East Lansing, Mich.
Spartans Collect 15 Event Wins on Home Grounds
Graduating seniors contributed to several top performances at their final home meet, the Spartan Invite presented by Auto-Owners Insurance.
Spartans won 15 events on the day including nine of ten consecutive events to end the day, including three straight sweeps of the podium on the track at Ralph Young Field. 21 soon-to-be Spartan Track and Field graduates were recognized during the senior day celebrations.
Raleigh Relays – March 28-30| Raleigh, N.C.
Spartans in all Specialties Solid Throughout Raleigh Relays
At the competitive three-day Raleigh Relays, Spartans across all event specialties put together solid performances, starting with a throws team sweep of the shot put in the first events of day one.
Freshman Jessica Stieb kicked things off, winning the collegiate shot put at 15.99m. Sophomore Colby Morlock won the men's shot put by over two feet behind an 18.53m PR, completing the Spartan sweep of the shot Thursday.
Running unattached and coming off the back of a Big Ten steeplechase title last outdoor season, junior Kate Stewart-Barnett won the 3000m steeplechase at 10:01.08 Friday. National runner-up in the heptathlon during the Indoor season and fellow Olympic hopeful graduate student Heath Baldwin showed his consistent progress with two PRs and third place finishes in the long jump (7.35m) and 110m hurdles (13.81s), also claiming fourth in the pole vault.
Clyde Hart Classic – March 22-23 | Waco, Texas
Men's Sprints Highlight Outdoor Opener
On the first meet day of the outdoor season Friday, it was the senior Kendel Hammock that delivered, posting a 400m hurdles winning time of 53 seconds flat.
On Saturday, junior Noah Sage followed it up with Michigan State's other podium finish of the weekend, a 46.57 400m dash time, which is good for the 13th fastest in NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field on the young season.
Other notable performances included a pair of top-five finishes on the women's side. On Friday, sophomore Natalie Blake pole vaulted to a fourth-place finish at 4.00m. Freshman and MSU Indoor shotput record holder Jessica Stieb tossed the shot 16 meters, good for fifth.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
Select women's distance runners and members of the men's and women's throws crew will kick off the week at the GVSU Extra Weekend meet in a one-day competition in Allendale, Mich. Thursday. A handful of MSU jumpers and sprinters will compete at the Len Paddock Invitational on Saturday.
At last year's Penn Relays the Spartans broke three women's relays school records in the distance medley relays, 4x1500m relay and the 4x800m relay. The last time the MSU women raced the DMR, Shae Harbaugh, Abbey Carvey, Kate Stewart-Barnett and Lauren Freeland won the Big Ten Indoors title on Feb. 23.
The three meets will conclude the regular season for the Spartans ahead of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships which will take place from May 10-12 in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Season Headlines Review
Jim Green Invite – April 19-20 | Lexington, Ky. & Virginia Challenge – April 19-20 | Charlottesville, Va. & Al Owens Classic – April 20 | Allendale, Mich.
Personal Bests Plentiful for Spartans at Weekend Meets, Pole Vaulters Shine
The distance squad accepted the challenge at the Virginia Challenge as the majority of Spartans collected PRs on the weekend. Several individual breakthroughs were made, including the return of junior Kaitlyn Hynes and the men sweeping wins in each of the four 1500m heats.
The sprints, throws and jumps teams meanwhile put the 'Green' in the Jim Green Invite in Lexington, Ky.. Spartans swept the pole vault victories as sophomore Sophia Mettes continued her continual growth with a 4.27m PR, winning the event by over a foot on Friday, ranking her as NCAA East Region No. 6. Sophomore Adam Blue topped the competition at 5.12m, his first time clearing five meters in his career. Junior Valadian Pallett won the hammer throw by .8 meters behind a PR of 54.82m.
Mt. SAC Relays – April 17-18 | Torrance, Calif.
Baldwin Meets Olympic Standard, Breaks Several Records
Heath Baldwin's decathlon score of 8470 at the Mt. SAC Relays poises him for the 2024 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, ranking as the U.S. No. 1, world No. 3 and NCAA seventh-best of all time.
The Kalamazoo, Mich. native's score over the ten events meets the Olympic standard and makes him the current Team USA Decathlon Olympic trials front-runner for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Baldwin breaks the Big Ten conference decathlon record and shatters his own MSU school record by 386 points, set at the 2023 Mt. SAC Relays. The graduate student used four personal best marks over the two-day competition (100m dash, long jump, 400m dash and javelin) to reset his school record overall score, with his javelin throw of 71.02m also breaking his school record in the event.
Bryan Clay Invite – April 11-13 |Azusa, Calif. & JMU Invite – April 13 | Harrisonburg, Va.
Track & Field Continues Success with 10 wins at JMU, Women Set PR's at Highly-Touted Bryan Clay
Michigan State Track and Field wrapped up a full weekend of action with 10 victories at the JMU Invite Saturday while three Spartans from the women's distance team recorded solid marks at the highly-touted Bryan Clay Invite.
Representing the green and white at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, Calif. junior Kate Stewart-Barnett in the 3000m Steeplechase Thursday and graduate student Katie Osika in the 5000m Friday both logged significant PR's among talented competition.
Spartan Invite – April 5 | East Lansing, Mich.
Spartans Collect 15 Event Wins on Home Grounds
Graduating seniors contributed to several top performances at their final home meet, the Spartan Invite presented by Auto-Owners Insurance.
Spartans won 15 events on the day including nine of ten consecutive events to end the day, including three straight sweeps of the podium on the track at Ralph Young Field. 21 soon-to-be Spartan Track and Field graduates were recognized during the senior day celebrations.
Raleigh Relays – March 28-30| Raleigh, N.C.
Spartans in all Specialties Solid Throughout Raleigh Relays
At the competitive three-day Raleigh Relays, Spartans across all event specialties put together solid performances, starting with a throws team sweep of the shot put in the first events of day one.
Freshman Jessica Stieb kicked things off, winning the collegiate shot put at 15.99m. Sophomore Colby Morlock won the men's shot put by over two feet behind an 18.53m PR, completing the Spartan sweep of the shot Thursday.
Running unattached and coming off the back of a Big Ten steeplechase title last outdoor season, junior Kate Stewart-Barnett won the 3000m steeplechase at 10:01.08 Friday. National runner-up in the heptathlon during the Indoor season and fellow Olympic hopeful graduate student Heath Baldwin showed his consistent progress with two PRs and third place finishes in the long jump (7.35m) and 110m hurdles (13.81s), also claiming fourth in the pole vault.
Clyde Hart Classic – March 22-23 | Waco, Texas
Men's Sprints Highlight Outdoor Opener
On the first meet day of the outdoor season Friday, it was the senior Kendel Hammock that delivered, posting a 400m hurdles winning time of 53 seconds flat.
On Saturday, junior Noah Sage followed it up with Michigan State's other podium finish of the weekend, a 46.57 400m dash time, which is good for the 13th fastest in NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field on the young season.
Other notable performances included a pair of top-five finishes on the women's side. On Friday, sophomore Natalie Blake pole vaulted to a fourth-place finish at 4.00m. Freshman and MSU Indoor shotput record holder Jessica Stieb tossed the shot 16 meters, good for fifth.
Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.
