Michigan State University
Big Ten Championships
Track & Field Finishes Seventh at Big Ten Championships
5/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 16, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Michigan State track & field team concluded action at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Indiana University on Sunday, May 16 with both the men and women finishing in seventh place. Individually, MSU saw two competitors finish atop their respective events as Big Ten Champions. Becca Buchholtz placed first in the high jump, while Kyron Foster continued his indoor success in the triple jump with the outdoor triple jump crown. As a result of their performances, both Buchholtz and Foster received First-Team All-Big Ten accolades.
"Last year I really challenged this group to not be satisfied with what they got," said director of track & field and cross country Walt Drenth. "This weekend we made an enormous amount of progress towards the future of the track & field program here at Michigan State. We did some things that will definitely help the program in the long run. We scored in nearly every event that we contested in, except for maybe one or two. So, we are very optimistic going forward."
Finishing atop the men's standings was Minnesota with 145 points. Wisconsin (124), Ohio State (115) and Iowa (86) all occupied positions two through four. Host Indiana finished fifth (82), while Illinois placed sixth (70). The Spartans tied with Penn State for seventh with 52 points. Purdue (49) and Michigan (44) rounded out the teams in ninth and 10th, respectively.
After Minnesota had been leading the women's standings for the first two days of action, Penn State closed out the Big Ten Championships in first place with 133.50 points. The Golden Gophers were second with 123 points. Wisconsin was third (101.50), Indiana was fourth (92.50) and Illinois was fifth (87). Ohio State occupied the sixth position (56), while the Green and White was seventh (63). Michigan (56), Purdue (49.50) and Iowa (34) close out the standings in eighth through 10th, respectively.
Buchholtz won her second career Big Ten title in the high jump when she posted a personal-best leap of 1.80m to also earn 10 points for the Spartan team total.
Foster earned his second individual Big Ten title of the year when he recorded a leap of 15.69m in his first jump of the 2010 outdoor season. Foster's first-place finish earned 10 points for the men's team total.
Earning second-team All-Big Ten honors in the 200m dash finals with a time of 23.78 was Charelise Davis. Emily MacLeod also earned second-team honors in the 5,000m run when she finished second with a time of 16:16.74. Both Davis and MacLeod earned eight points for the Spartan women's total in their respective events.
Also, competing in the 200m dash was Erica Mann finished sixth with a time of 24.34 to earn three team points.
MacLeod also earned four points in the 1,500m run finals when she placed fifth with a time of 4:18.50.
The 100m dash finals saw Mann and Davis finish fourth and fifth, respectively. Mann finished with a time of 11.86, while Davis clocked in at 11.91. Mann earned five team points and Davis earned four team points.
Mann and Davis also partnered with Leslie Aririguzo and Alysson Bodenbach to place fourth in the 4x100m relay finals with a time of 45.54. Together, the Spartan foursome earned five points for the team total.
"The hard part of track & field are Sunday's," said Drenth. "Sunday's are when you are tired after having competed in lots of events. Emily (MacLeod), Charelise (Davis) and Erica (Mann) all showed that you shouldn't be fazed by Sunday's and that you can still do it even when you are tired. Those three went out there and laid it all on the track this weekend and I am certainly proud of them."
Yury Ratomski placed eighth in both the 100m and 200m dash finals. Ratomski finished with a time of 10.99 in the 100m and clocked in at 22.01 in the 200m final, earning one point for the Spartans in both events.
Placing third in the 100m hurdles finals was Shane Wells with a time of 14.36. Keenan Michael was eighth when he crossed the finish line in 14.79. Wells earned six points, while Michael posted one point for the men's total.
The field events were led by Ashley Lawrence in the discus throw and Ashley Smith in the pole vault. Lawrence placed seventh with a toss of 49.24m, while Smith vaulted a height of 3.90m to place fourth overall. Lawrence posted two points for the total and Smith added five.
In the men's 1,500m run finals, Josh McAlary placed seventh with a time of 3:46.68 to earn two additional points for the men.
Michael placed fourth in the 400m hurdle finals when he posted a time of 51.25. Jake Hamilton followed in eighth with a 52.29 mark, earning one point for MSU.
Aririguzo and Leah Elenbaas placed eighth in their respective events to earn one point for the Green and White. Aririguzo posted a time of 14.00 in the 100m hurdle finales, while Elenbaas finished a with a 2:09.32 mark in the 800m run finals.
Michigan State closed out action with the 4x400m relays. The women's team consisting of Bodenbach, Davis, Elenbaas and Coryn Marzejon finished seventh with a time of 3:44.44, earning the final two points to the women's total.
Michael, Hamilton, Ratomski and Stephen Humes teamed for the men's 4x400m relay. Together, the men placed eighth when they clocked in at 3:15.38, earning the final point for the Spartan men and putting them in a tie with Penn State for seventh.
"This year, we didn't have any seniors score for the women, so we are certainly excited for the championships to come in the upcoming years," noted Drenth.
After a weekend off from competition, the Spartans will return to action when they travel to the NCAA Regional Championships in Greensboro, N.C. Action begins on Thursday, May 27 and concludes on Saturday, May 29.
Players Mentioned
