VMI track and field will open competition at the 2010 Big South Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday morning in Charleston, S.C. 

The VMI men come off a third-place finish at the Big South Indoor Championships, and a second-place result at this meet last year. That runner-up finish was VMI's best since joining the Big South, and the Keydets, led by James Alexander and Felix Kitur, will be looking to post a strong showing this year as well.

The Keydet women saw Hannah Granger become VMI's first-ever female conference champion in a running event, when she prevailed in the 10,000-meter run. She'll have two chances to add to her sterling resume at this meet, as she's slated for action in both the 5K and 10K. Standout freshman Kate Collins will also be in action, as will senior school record holders Michelle Feole and Chandale Williams.

Fans can follow along with the action one of three ways, all of which are linked above.

First, live video streaming will be provided by the Big South Network, and that is available for a small fee. Secondly, CFPI Timing is back in action, as they traditionally are at Big South Track meets, and they're on hand with live results. Finally, VMIKeydets.com will traveling to Charleston with the team and will be on hand with a live blog, chronicling all the action for all three days. Occasional updates may also be available at the VMI Twitter page, linked here, but the majority of the action will be updated on the blog.

Brief previews of selected events are available below. Fans should note that these previews are based off of performance lists as of Tuesday at 2 p.m., and exact rankings could change.

Women's 5,000-meters (Saturday, 3:20)

This could be one of the meet's more intriguing races. VMI's Granger, the defending conference champion in cross country, is the #2 seed despite only running one race this outdoor season. Her 17:29.28 time in this event at the Military Championships broke her own VMI record by some 20 seconds, and places her four seconds behind this race's top mark, set by Radford senior Lori Crotts. Crotts, who has risen through the conference ranks to become a regular threat, should battle with Granger throughout. No other runner is within 23 seconds of the Radford star's time (17:25.31), but six runners, including Liberty standouts Ashley Osborne and Rebekah Ricksecker, do not have a seed mark.

Women's 10,000-meters (Thursday, 6:15)

If the Granger/Crotts/Osborne/Ricksecker duel doesn't develop in the 5K, pay attention to this race, as it could be the best event of the entire meet. Ashley Osborne of Liberty is the top seed, after posting a 35:35.65 earlier in the year. That effort was, for a brief time, the #1 clocking in the country at this distance. VMI's Granger is this race's defending champion, but she'll face Crotts, Osborne and, yet again, Dacia Bushman of Liberty as she tries to defend her crown. Granger and Bushman have faced off repeatedly over the last two years, including in this race last year, when they traded the lead repeatedly before Granger pulled away in the closing laps and took the win.

Potentially, the Keydets have three runners score here, as Lindsey Carty and Leah Schubel are both entered in this race (along with the 5K).

Women's Javelin Throw (Thursday, 12:30)

Again, a trio of Keydets will threaten to dent the scoreboard here, but the seed marks are very close. The top seed, Deborah Mattern of Coastal Carolina, has thrown the implement 41.69 meters this year, while the 11th seed, Liberty's Krystle Matthews, has recorded a mark of 35.17 M. This means that the top-11 competitors are separated by just 6.52 meters. By comparison, VMI's Kaitlin Harrison, who is ranked seventh (tied) coming into the event, set a new personal best at the Military Championships (37.04 M), surpassing her old PR by nearly eight full meters.

Veterans Michelle Feole and Hope Hackemeyer could also notch points here. Feole is the VMI record holder, and has the sixth-longest throw in the conference this year (38.54 M), while Hackemeyer has the eighth-longest toss in the Big South this season and finished eighth at last year's outdoor championships.

Women's Pole Vault (Friday, 5:00)

This has become one of VMI's best events, as if things broke just so, the Keydets could have three athletes score here. Shelley Parker of Liberty enters as the top seed, but is just .15 meters ahead of fifth-ranked Kate Collins, the VMI record holder in this event. Collins, who competed against Parker when both were in high school, bested the Liberty freshman on misses at the BSC Indoor Championships.

Sitting eighth on the performance list is perhaps the biggest surprise of this outdoor season, sophomore Jennifer Sing. Sing has set a new personal best at two consecutive meets, and comes in with a seed mark of 3.25 meters. The competitors from seventh through 14th on the performance list are separated by just .20 meters, with both Sing and classmate Carrie Wortham in that grouping. Wortham will entered the Championships seeded 12th.

Women's 400-meters (Finals - Saturday, 1:35)

Jamie Watson of Liberty, who has dominated the 800-meter run this year, is also one of the favorites here. Her 54.12 is the top seed time by .85 seconds, ranking over Sasha Robinson of Winthrop. VMI's own Chandale Williams is the #4 seed, thanks to her school record run of 56.95 seconds earlier in the year, and she will be looking to surpass her previous best outing at the Big South Championships (5th, 2009) and spoil Watson's efforts.

Men's 3,000-meter steeplechase (Friday, 7:15)

Is VMI "Steeplechase U"? After Donnie Cowart's All-American berth last year, some may have wondered if VMI's efforts in the steeple would fall off. Last weekend's times at Bucknell showed that this race still is a Keydet strength, however, as VMI will enter with four of the top eight marks on the board. No other school has more than three runners who are both entered and have marks recorded.

Evans Kigen of Liberty, who holds the all-time Big South record in this event, is the top seed, but three Keydets are right behind him. Matt Sagar (9:15.44) and Matt Satterwhite (9:28.34) will each be running in their final Big South Championships, while #4-seed, freshman Ian McGinn (9:36.14), will be competing in his first outdoor conference meet. Ermin Mujezinovic, seeded eighth with a 9:50.24 clocking, rounds out the Keydet seeds in this race.

Men's 800-meters (Finals - Saturday, 1:55)

Felix Kitur, again, enters as the favorite, but the man who knocked off Kitur at the indoor championships, ending his Big South winning streak in this race, sits just behind him. Josh Morgan of High Point will be running in his final Big South Championships, and is a contender, but Kitur served notice last weekend with the 17th-fastest time in the region (1:49.69) and is comfortably at the top of the performance list.

Dean Gonsalves, who has enjoyed a solid first season with VMI, is seeded eighth in this race, and could move up on that ranking with a strong effort here. One wild card is Liberty's Sam Chelanga, the collegiate record holder in the 10K, who has never run an open 800-meter race.

Men's 200-meters (Finals - Saturday, 2:50)

Junior James Alexander, currently on the bubble for a berth at the Regional Meet, is seeded third here but will have quite the field to contend with. At the top of the charts is Javon Young of Charleston Southern, who is tied for the fifth-fastest time in Division I this year (20.64). His teammate, Levi Brooks, has a mark of 21.40 to rank second, just in front of Alexander. Raschad Kelso of Radford and Jacey Bailey of Liberty are also in the top-five seeds, and are very much legitimate threats.

Men's Long Jump (Thursday, 4:45)

The conference's indoor champion, the Keydets' Ademola Titcombe, will be looking to dent the Liberty domination of this event. The Flames have the top four seeds, while Titcombe is down the list a bit, seeded ninth entering this meet. VMI's Terrance Green is actually seeded ahead of Titcombe, as Green is ranked sixth, while freshman Nate Gant rounds out the trio.

Men's Shot Put (Friday, Noon)

Cody Davis has had a breakout season, including several personal bests marks (dating back to the indoor campaign) and an IC4A qualifying effort in this event. He is seeded third coming in to Friday's proceedings (15.45 meters), just .02 meters behind Justin Smith of Radford. Liberty's Ryan Smith is at the top of the board, with a seed mark of 17.11 meters. James Handler will also take part in this event, as the junior and former football player is eighth coming into the meet (13.82 meters).

Men's Discus Throw (Saturday, 12:30 p.m.)

Speaking of Davis and Handler, this event is not their specialty, but as one often sees at conference meets, they will compete in an effort to gain whatever points they can. Davis will start the competition seeded 14th, while Handler is placed 17th on the performance list, but teammate Chad Lawson is quite aways further up the charts, seeded third. Lawson's 45.22 seed mark is just under three meters shy of the facility record, set in 2004.

Men's Hammer Throw (Thursday, 4:30)

Lawson and Davis are also both involved here, but if they want to get to the top of the podium, they'll have to dethrone NCAA qualifier Timothy Morse of Radford. Morse's seed mark of 65.70 meters is just under six meters ahead of his closest competitor, Jason Jensen from Coastal Carolina, while Lawson and Davis are seeded seventh and eighth respectively.