VMI track and field will continue its outdoor season Thursday, as the Keydets head over the Blue Ridge Mountains to Liberty to take part in the Liberty Twilight Qualifier. Action gets underway at 1 p.m., and VMIKeydets.com will be on hand during portions of the event to provide updates on our twitter page. A performance list is linked above, and brief previews of selected events are posted below.
Women's Events
Pole vault (immediately after men's vault, which starts at 2 p.m.) - All five of the top vaulters are in some way associated with Virginia Tech. Second seed Kelly Phillips was fourth at this year's ACC indoor championships.
Liberty's Shelley Parker is seeded sixth, with Big South outdoor champ Mary Lawrence of Coastal seventh. VMI's Kate Collins is eighth, as the three very evenly matched vaulters remain in lockstep seemingly throughout all their competitions.
Jennifer Sing, who has posted multiple personal bests this outdoor season, and Carrie Wortham will also be involved in the proceedings.
Javelin (5:30) - VMI's Michelle Feole has a good chance to win this event, as she is seeded second, just .30 meters behind the top mark entered in this event. Feole also has two teammates in the top 10, Hope Hackemeyer (#5 seed) and Kaitlin Harrison (#8 seed). Kate Lamneck and Emma Yancey are also entered.
400-meter dash (immediately after men's, 7:40) - In her last outing (4/17), Chandale Williams came in under 56 seconds for the first time in her career and shattered her own VMI record in the 400. She will look to do so again this week at Liberty, where she's seeded sixth.
Men
High jump (5:00) - Dennis James enters as the #3 seed, and is joined by his teammates Michael Munson and Antonio Wood. Wood is seeded seventh after clearing 1.96 at the Big South Championships, to post the top mark in the decathlon version of this event.
Long jump (immediately after women's, 2 p.m.) - Longtime Big South stalwart Clarence Powell of Liberty is the top seed, with VMI's Ademola Titcombe fourth. In between are two competitors, including Diego Lawerence of Campbell, an impressive freshman who jumped 7.42 meters late last month to win a meet at Winthrop.
Triple jump (follows long jump) - Titcombe is also slated to compete in the triple jump, a competition he was all-conference in at the Big South Championships. He'll be seeded sixth, trailing a field that includes Chad Phillips of Coastal Carolina, the Big South titleist in this event two weeks ago.
100-meter dash (trials - 3 p.m.) - James Alexander has a tall mountain to climb in this event, as the top seven entrants all have seed marks of 10.50 or below, including #2 seed Duronal Monal of East Tennessee State. Monal clocked in at 10.27 to win the Charlotte Invitational on Apr. 17. VMI's Alexander will also run the 200 Thursday evening.
800-meter run (8 p.m.) - The top Keydets in this event are seeded mid-pack, led by Ian McGinn at #12, but the top of the board is interesting as well. Three UVA runners lead the field, paced by Stephen Finley at a 1:46 seed mark. All three (Finley, Lance Roller and Robby Andrews) were part of the 4X800-meter relay team that won last weekend's Penn Relays, as Andrews outdueled 2008 Olympian Andrew Wheating of Oregon on the final leg.
Note: All competitors are, as always, subject to change.
