Coming off a solid effort at the 2010 Military Championships, VMI track and field will travel across the Blue Ridge Mountains to compete at Saturday's Liberty Collegiate Invitational. Action is set to get underway at 9 a.m.
Felix Kitur and James Alexander will lead the Keydet contingent Saturday, as both come off top performances last weekend. Kitur won the 800 at the Military Championships, but will step down in distance and run the 400-meters Saturday. It is believed that this is just the second individual 400-meter race of Kitur's college career. Meanwhile, Alexander was the runner-up in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes, and will take part in those events Saturday. The junior is in the top-10 seeds for the 100, but is the top Division I competitor heading into the longer of the two distances.
Ademola Titcombe will also run the 100-meter dash, and is also entered in the long jump. There, the sophomore will be joined by Terrance Green and Nate Gant, giving the Keydets three of the top nine seeds.
Kate Collins, Big South Champion in the indoor pole vault, will take part in her trademark event as the #2 seed. She will face off against longtime high school rival Shelley Parker of Liberty as well as Collins' own teammate Jennifer Sing, who posted a significant improvement on her personal best effort last weekend at the Military Championships. Carrie Wortham is also in the event's top-10 seeds.
Another event the Keydets will send several competitors into is the men's 1,500-meter run, as VMI boasts three of the top five seeds. Matt Satterwhite leads the charge, while Matt Sagar looks to rebound from an up-and-down indoor season. The two seniors will be joined by freshman Ian McGinn, who currently ranks 47th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the East Region.
The throwers will also be involved Saturday, led by Chad Lawson and Cody Davis. Lawson will throw the hammer, while Davis will take part in both the hammer throw and the shot put. Finally, the day's opening event will be the women's javelin, which will feature Michelle Feole and Hope Hackemeyer, both expected to be near the top of the leaderboard.
Following Saturday's events, the Keydets will return to action April 9 at the Lou Onesty Invitational, hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.