April 26, 2007

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State track and field team will travel to two different meets on April 27-28, the Hillsdale Relays in Hillsdale, Mich., and the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. The 41st annual Hillsdale College Relays will begin with the men's decathlon on Friday at 9 a.m., while Saturday's events start at 10 a.m. with the pole vault.

The 98th annual Drake Relays, hosted by Drake University, will host 7,851 athletes and 676 teams from elementary schools to Olympic level athletes. Friday will begin with the women's 4x100-meter relay at 9:32 a.m. and Saturday's first event will start with the shuttle hurdle relay at 8:11 a.m.

Following this weekend's meets, the team will head to Michigan for the Len Paddock Invitational on May 4-5.

EMU Invitational
At the EMU Invitational, the Spartans earned seven NCAA-regional qualifying marks. The team was led by senior thrower Erica Bailey who had qualifying marks in the hammer and shot put, while Jonathon Allen also notched a qualifying distance, and broke a 26-year-old school record in the triple jump.

Bailey won the hammer with a personal-best distance of 54.15 meters (177-8) and topped the shot put field with a 15.36 meter (50-4 3/4) throw, earning Big Ten Women's Field Athlete of the Week honors.

Allen jumped a NCAA-regional qualifying mark, and personal-best distance of 15.40 meters (50- 6 1/4) to lead all triple jumpers. The sophomore jumper broke the school record by over three inches for his second school record. He previously broke the indoor triple jump record earlier this year with a mark of 15.90 meters (52-2). Like teammate Bailey, he was named Big Ten Men's Field Athlete of the Week.

Lisa Senakiewich ran a 4:24.02 for a qualifying time in the 1,500-meter run. Hurdler John Childress ran a personal-best 14.02 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles for his second career NCAA-regional qualifying mark. Jim Pancoast ran a personal-best time (3:46.18) in the 1,500-meter run to also qualify for the regional meet. Taren James rounded out the regional qualifiers, as she leaped 12.45 meters (40-10 1/4) in the triple jump for her second consecutive first-place finish.

Spartan Invitational Recap
Leading the Spartans on the track was junior Nicole Bush, who dominated the pack in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in her first outdoor race of the season. Bush nabbed a NCAA-regional qualifying time (10:41.50) and finished in first place, nine seconds below the qualifying mark. Coming in second was sophomore Sarah Price, who also met the criteria for the NCAA-regional meet with a time of 10:46.20, after being just seconds short of a qualifying time at the Colonial Relays the week before.

Melinda Buckmaster continued her impressive season with another regional-qualifying distance in the javelin. The senior threw for a personal-best 46.45 meters (152-05).

Alissa McKaig posted a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run. The sophomore ran a NCAA-regional qualifying time of 16:31.38 in her first outdoor season with the Green and White.

For the men, Mark Langlois improved on his former regional-qualifying height of 5.05 meters (16-7), with his second first-place finish and personal-best distance in the pole vault as he cleared a height of 5.10 meters (16-8 3/4).

Colonial Relays Recap
Nicole Bush continued her winning ways with a NCAA-regional qualifying time and personal-best mark of 4:25.07, in the 1,500-meter run. The junior distance runner was almost two seconds below the qualifying time and finished first in the event.

In the field events, senior Melinda Buckmaster captured first place in the javelin. The senior threw 44.30 meters (145-4) for her second-consecutive NCAA-qualifying distance and her second first-place finish of the outdoor season.

Freshman Ian Boyle ran a NCAA-qualifying time in the 1,500-meter run. The freshman ran a 3:47.55 for a second-place finish in his first 1,500-meter race as a Spartan.

Stanford Invitational Recap
Senior Matt Bartlebaugh finished his first 10,000-meter run of the outdoor season in 29:57.49 at the Stanford Invitational. The senior fell 27 seconds short of the regional-qualifying time (29:30.00). Junior Stephan Shay finished the same race in 31:06.97, despite cramping with 2,000 meters left before the finish line.

Springtime Invitational Recap
Mark Langlois and Melinda Buckmaster collected NCAA Regional-qualifying marks and first-place finishes in the pole vault and javelin, respectively, in the first outdoor meet of the season in Auburn, Ala., on April 9-10.

Langlois won the pole vault with a height of 5.05 meters (16-6 ¾) and was half an inch off his personal-best height of 5.06 meters (16-7 ¼). Buckmaster won the javelin with a distance of 45.45 meters (149-1), leading the second-place finisher by 1.65 meters (5-5).