Nathan Larson
Matthew Mitchell

Track and Field

Spartans Set to Compete at Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Ann Arbor

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Spartan Track & Field will commence the outdoor postseason with a three-day scored meet at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. from Friday, May 10 through Sunday, May 12.

Meet Info / Schedule | Live Results
 
Not only will the Spartans' top 70 athletes aim to score points toward the team standings, but they will also look to set marks that will qualify them for the NCAA Eastern Regional. The NCAA Championships preliminary round is comprised of two regions, taking in just the region's top-48 marks of the season per event, as MSU will compete out of the East Region in Lexington, Ky. from May 22-25.     
 
At last year's Big Ten Outdoor Championships the Spartan men placed eighth of 13 and the women 11th. At the conference indoor championships earlier this season from Feb. 23-24 both teams placed 11th in the field.
 
Season Headlines Review
Penn Relays – April 26-27 | Philadelphia, Pa. & Len Paddock Invitational – April 27 | Ann Arbor, Mich. & GVSU Extra Weekend – April 25 | Allendale, Mich.
Spartans Finish Outdoor Track and Field Regular Season Strong
The MSU throws squad set the tone with several podium finishes and two sweeps at the GVSU Extra Weekend meet. The Spartans also competed in six men's and women's distance relays at the highly-touted 128th edition of the Penn Relays, twice placing second among the nation's top relay teams. A small group of Spartans successfully concluded the weekend and regular season at the Len Paddock Invitational, led by graduate student Taryn Hankins' 100m win.
 
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.
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Players Mentioned

Heath Baldwin

Heath Baldwin

Multi-Event
Graduate Student
Natalie Blake

Natalie Blake

Jumps
Sophomore
Adam Blue

Adam Blue

Jumps
Sophomore
Kendel Hammock

Kendel Hammock

Sprints/Hurdles
Graduate Student
Kaitlyn Hynes

Kaitlyn Hynes

Distance
Junior
Sophia Mettes

Sophia Mettes

Jumps
Sophomore
Colby Morlock

Colby Morlock

Throws
Sophomore
Katie Osika

Katie Osika

Distance
Graduate Student
Valadian Pallett

Valadian Pallett

Throws
Junior
Noah Sage

Noah Sage

Sprints
Junior
Kate Stewart-Barnett

Kate Stewart-Barnett

Distance
Junior
Taryn Hankins

Taryn Hankins

Jumps
Graduate Student

Players Mentioned

Heath Baldwin

Heath Baldwin

Graduate Student
Multi-Event
Natalie Blake

Natalie Blake

Sophomore
Jumps
Adam Blue

Adam Blue

Sophomore
Jumps
Kendel Hammock

Kendel Hammock

Graduate Student
Sprints/Hurdles
Kaitlyn Hynes

Kaitlyn Hynes

Junior
Distance
Sophia Mettes

Sophia Mettes

Sophomore
Jumps
Colby Morlock

Colby Morlock

Sophomore
Throws
Katie Osika

Katie Osika

Graduate Student
Distance
Valadian Pallett

Valadian Pallett

Junior
Throws
Noah Sage

Noah Sage

Junior
Sprints
Kate Stewart-Barnett

Kate Stewart-Barnett

Junior
Distance
Taryn Hankins

Taryn Hankins

Graduate Student
Jumps