VMI Men Post Runner-Up Finish at BSC Indoor Championships

Men's Track and Field 1/15/2010 12:45:00 PM VMIKeydets.com

Track and Field Returns to Action at Kent State

LEXINGTON, Va. – After nearly a six-week layoff, the VMI track and field team will resume the 2009-10 campaign Saturday as the squad heads to Kent, Ohio to take part in the Doug Raymond Invitational, hosted by Kent State. A link to live results is available below.

This meet will mark the third consecutive year VMI has traveled to Kent State early in the season. Last year, the Keydets opened their season at the Golden Flashes' facility, and a debuting Ademola Titcombe was very impressive. The then-freshman won the triple jump and was third in the long jump at his first collegiate meet, helping the Keydets post seven IC4A qualifying times in the first meet of 2008-09. Titcombe is scheduled to be back in action this weekend, taking part in the long jump and beginning to branch into the sprints, as the sophomore is set to compete in the 200-meters.

Team tri-captain James Alexander will also be running Saturday, as the junior is listed in the entries for both the 200-meters and the 400-meters, while Austin Lewis will make his season debut in Ohio, entering the 60-meter dash and the 200-meters. Lewis comes over from VMI football, where he was a solid contributor this year on the gridiron and will now be looked to for depth on the track. Nate Gant rounds out the sprints for the Keydets, as the anticipated freshman recruit will join Lewis in the 60-meters and will battle alongside Titcombe in the long jump. Finally, Dennis James will take part in the high jump.

The throwers have also been solid in Ohio, including Chad Lawson's IC4A qualifying effort last year. Lawson, who is serving as one of the men's team captains this season, set a then-personal best in the weight throw during the Keydets' appearance in Kent last year. The effort sparked a strong start to the season for the then-sophomore, who went on to claim a Big South crown in that event later in the season. Lawson will throw the weight once again Saturday, and will be joined by Cody Davis. Davis will also hurl the shot during the weekend's proceedings. The leader of the throwers in the women's program will also compete, as Aquisi Harris is entered in the women's weight throw.

Several other VMI women will also travel to Kent State, led by Hannah Granger and Chandale Williams. Granger will look to begin to round into form, as she seeks her first conference indoor title after winning the 10K at last year's outdoor championships. The junior will run the mile Saturday, along with the Distance Medley Relay (DMR). Williams will run the 400-meter leg of the DMR, while the school record holder in that event will also compete in the 400-meter dash itself.

The freshmen in the women's program will be well represented, as Jenna Moye, this past season's Big South Cross Country Freshman of the Year, will be alongside Granger in both the mile and the DMR. The final leg of the Distance Medley Relay will be run by Moye's classmate Corinne Lariviere, while a third freshman, Kate Collins, will take part in the pole vault after recording a fifth-place finish in her collegiate debut last month.

Following the meet in Ohio, the Keydets return to action the following week, traveling to the historic Armory in New York City to take part in the Great Dane Classic. The annual meet hosted by the University of Albany is set for Friday, Jan. 22.

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