NCAA

Spartans Wrap Up Action at NCAA Outdoor Championships with Four All-American Finishes

Spartans Wrap Up Action at NCAA Outdoor Championships with Four All-American Finishes


AUSTIN, Texas – Four Spartans earned All-America honors to wrap up action at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Thursday at Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin. 

Senior Lauren Freeland capped off a breakout season with a 10th-place finish in the 1500m semifinals, narrowly missing a personal best with a time of 4:14.84. Freeland earned Second-Team All-America honors with her 10th-place finish, the first All-America nod of her career. 

Seniors Heath Baldwin and Ryan Talbot completed the second day of the decathlon Thursday, both earning All-America honors. Baldwin earned First-Team All-America honors with a fifth-place finish for his second career First-Team nod, both coming in 2023, and fourth overall All-America honor. Talbot collected the second All-America honor of his career, finishing 15th for Second-Team honors after being named an Honorable Mention All-American in the event at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Championships. 

Entering the second day of competition in 12th place, Baldwin climbed in the standings through the final five events. Baldwin used a field-best 67.43m throw in the javelin, a mark nearly three meters better than the second-best throw in the field, to launch into fifth place in the penultimate event. He also picked up 942 points in the 110m hurdles (14.25), 699 points in the discus throw (41.70), 793 in the pole vault (4.61m) and wrapped up the day with a time of 4:44.81 (650 points) to total 7,919 points for fifth place. 

Talbot, entering the day in 21st, totaled 7,488 points to finish 15th. He picked up 875 points in the 110m hurdles (14.79), finished second in the field in the discus with a throw of 47.94 (828), earned 676 points in the pole vault (4.21m) and 678 in the javelin (56.01m) and ran a personal best of 4:40.73 in the 1500m (676 points). 

Sophomore Opal Jackson earned Honorable Mention All-America honors in the shot put to collect her first All-America nod in her first collegiate outdoor season. 

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