Freeland Rounds Up NCAA East Preliminaries with Finals Qualification

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Five Spartan women made their 2024 NCAA East First Round Regional debuts on Thursday, highlighted by graduate student Lauren Freeland’s qualification for the 1500m finals.
 
With the men’s and women’s preliminaries both in the books, the men’s finals will take place throughout the day tomorrow while the women’s pole vault, including two Spartan women, is rescheduled to start the day at 10 a.m. ET.
 
If the Spartans place within the top 12 in their event, they advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the famed Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from June 5-8, where they will meet the top 12 finishers from the West Regional, being held in Fayetteville, Ark..
 
On Thursday, Freeland put herself in a good spot for one of those 12 spots in the 1500m using a late kick to finish third in her heat at 4:23.57. The 2024 1500 Big Ten Champion will compete in the finals scheduled for Saturday at 5:15 p.m..
 
Also on the day, junior Shae Harbaugh finished 40^th in the 800m, crossing the finish line in 2:07.16. Junior Opal Jackson finished 36^th in the shot put competition at 14.92m while freshman Jessica Stieb triple-faulted in her NCAA debut. Senior Kaia Scheffler did not finish in the 100m hurdles to start the day.
 
Headlining the seven Spartans competing on Friday is graduate student Heath Baldwin the 110m Hurdles finals. The Kalamazoo, Mich. native holds four MSU school records and was .02 seconds off from a fifth in the 110m hurdles (13.77) while scoring points in all four events he competed in last time out at the Big Ten Championships.
 
Typically competing in the decathlon, Baldwin focuses on just one event at regionals and will forgo the NCAA Championships in preparation for the US Summer Olympic Trials just two weeks later. The 2023 MSU Athletics George Alderton Male Athlete of the Year and five-time All-American is currently the U.S. No. 1 and World No. 3 in the decathlon after an NCAA seventh best all-time score of 8470 at the Mt. SAC Relays (April 17-18) that met the Olympic standard.
 
Sophomore Sophia Mettes’ pole vault personal record came in Lexington, Ky. on the runways at Shively Track and Field Stadium, a massive 4.27m clearance at the Jim Green Invite (April 19-20). The mark qualified her for the NCAA East First Round, right back where she set her career mark. The native of…