Track and Field Gears Up for Three Meet Weekend

EAST LANSING, Mich. – MSU Track and Field student-athletes will compete between three meets taking place both Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday the 10th at the Windy City Invite in Chicago, Ill., the GVSU Big Meet in Allendale, Mich. and the Valentine Invite in Boston, Mass.
 
The highly competitive Windy City Invite will feature several premier teams and athletes from the region and the majority of the Spartans varsity lineup. Four women’s distance runners will race on what is regarded the ‘world’s fastest tack’ at Boston University in an attempt to qualify for NCAA’s. All the meanwhile a small group of mostly throwers will compete at nearby Grand Valley State.
 
Season Headline Review
Meyo Invite – Feb. 2-3, 2024 | South Bend, Ind.
Freshman Breaks School Record Again
Freshman Jessica Stieb originally broke the indoor shot put school record at 16.60m in her first career collegiate try on Dec. 8, 2023 at the GVSU Holiday Open. On her third try of the day Friday, the Loup City, Neb. native reset the record at 16.63m.
 
PNC Lenny Lyles Invite – Jan. 26-27 | Louisville, Ky.
Return of the Multis
Graduate Student Heath Baldwin cruised to a victory in the first heptathlon competition of the season, racking up 5,899 points and placing in the top four of each sub event, also winning the heptathlon shot put with a Norton Healthcare SLC facility record 15.73m.
 
Graduate Student Ryan Talbot finished third in the heptathlon with a personal best 5,727 points, racking up wins in the pole vault, 60m dash and an additional PR in the 1,000m run.
 
A Hop, Sprint, and Big Jumps
Back in the Bluegrass State, the jumps squad posted solid results of their own. For a third straight week, sophomore Natalie Blake upped her personal best mark in the pole vault, this time clearing 4.03m Friday. Sophomore Korin Whitcomb placed second in the high jump at 1.60m.
 
Freshman sprinter Liz Anderson continued her strong start to 2024, landing on the podium in second in the 400m with a time of 56.97.
 
Michigan Invite – Jan. 27 | Ann Arbor, Mich.
Career Days in Distance
In Ann Arbor, Mich. for the third Saturday in a row, the distance squad showed improvement from the 800m to the 3K, setting several personal bests on both the men’s and women’s sides.
 
The men’s 3K was a particular bright spot as six men set personal records, including…