Spartans Host Big Ten Outdoor Championships
5/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
May 9, 2006
EAST LANSING, MICH. - The Michigan State men's and women's track and field teams will join forces with the Big Ten to host the 2006 Outdoor Championships at the Ralph Young Track and Field Complex on May 12-14. Single-day tickets are available for purchase at $10 for adults and $5 for children, students and senior citizens, while an all-session pass costs $15 for adults and $10 for children, students and senior citizens.
SPARTAN BIG TEN HISTORY
Michigan State has captured three Big Ten outdoor team titles in its history, taking top honors in 1965, 1966 and 1972. Last season the Spartans finished 10th, garnering 33 points. Brad Gebauer is MSU's lone returning Big Ten outdoor champion, having captured the pole vault title in 2004 with a leap of 17-0 3/4. That season the Spartans racked up 34 points, en route to a ninth-place finish.
MR. ALL-AMERICAN
Senior Brad Gebauer enters the Big Ten Outdoor Championships as the two-time reigning indoor champion in the pole vault. Earlier this season Gebauer defended his indoor title with a vault of 18-0 1/2 at the University of Iowa, setting an Iowa Fieldhouse record. The vault qualified Gebauer for the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he posted a leap of 17-10 1/2, finishing fourth overall and earning All-America honors. Gebauer was the first Spartan to earn indoor All-American honors since Paul Terek (Decathalon) and Steve Sherer (3,000 meters) in 2002. In the outdoor season, Gebauer claimed first at the Bulldog Invitational with a leap of 17-9 1/4, the top showing in the Big Ten thus far this spring.
SOPHOMORE SENSATION
Sophomore Jeremy Orr earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors a season ago. Following a successful regular season, Orr placed fourth in both the 100- and 200-meter races at the 2005 Big Ten Championships, posting times of 10.49 and 21.25, respectively. Orr is the only Spartan to win the conference freshman of the year award. Orr has continued to shine this season and remains just shy of regional qualifying marks in three events: the 100 meter, 200 meter and 400 meter dashes. Orr's top times this season are 10.70 in the 100, 21.98 in the 200 and 47.44 in the 400.
FOUR OF A KIND
Michigan State senior Jason Brown has competed in all four throwing events for the Spartans this season. Brown owns the tops throws on the team in the shot put and discus. His toss of 16.90 meters placed him fifth at the Arizona State Invitational, and earned the senior an automatic bid to regional competition. He placed third in the discus at the Central Michigan Invitational with a toss 48.89 meters, the longest of the year for the Spartans. In addition, the South Bend, Ind., native sports the team's second longest throws of the season in the javelin (30.74 meters) and hammer throw (44.37 meters) competitions.
SPARTAN IN FLIGHT
Julien Williams, a senior from Windermere, Fla., has been the Spartan's top long-jump competitor all season. Williams has notched Michigan State's two-best jumps to date, surpassing the NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 7.34 meters each time. Williams posted a leap of 7.35 meters in the season's first meet, the Arizona State Invitational, before smashing the qualifying mark with a 7.41-meter jump at the Spartan Invitational on April 15.
GOING LONG
The Spartans have received consistent contributions from a stable of middle-distance runners this season, including a trio of studentathletes in junior Phil Marlatt (800 meters) and sophomores Stephan Shay (5,000 meters) and Dustin Voss (3,000 meter steeplechase), who have already surpassed regional qualifying marks in their respective events. Juniors Jim Pancoast and Bobby Sherman will once again look to challenge regional qualifying times in the 800 meter and 1,500 meter distances at the Big Ten Championships, while seniors Nathan Egger and Nick Oertel and junior Matt Bartlebaugh could threaten regional times in the longer distances.
HIGH HEAT
Versatile sprinter John Childress has competed in four events for the Green and White this season. A stalwart in the 110-meter hurdles, Childress's season-best time of 14.28 has already earned him a trip to regionals. Additionally, Childress has posted a seasonbest time of 10.98 in the 100-meter dash and has helped pace Spartan relay teams in the 4x100 and 4x400 meter competitions.
SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS
Freshman Ryan Libiran has twice cleared 2.03 meters, setting the bar for all Spartan high-jumpers this season. Libiran boasts the top-four highjump marks for MSU in 2006.
THE TRIFECTA
Freshman triple-jump specialist Jonathan Allen has reeled off three consecutive event titles heading into the Big Ten Championship meet. Allen's streak began at the Spartan Invitational, with a leap of 14.84 meters. Allen captured firstplace the following week at the Bulldog Invitational, in Athens, Ga., turning in a season best and regional qualifying performance of 15.21 meters. He also finished first at the Hillsdale Relays on April 29.
ALUMNI RECEPTION
All Michigan State track and field and cross country alumni are welcome to attend an alumni reception at the LaSalle Bank Club in Spartan Stadium during the weekend of the Big Ten Championships. The reception will be held on Saturday, May 13, at 7:30 p.m., following the completion of the day's events.