Another season begins for VMI track and field on Dec. 4, when the Keydets are in action in Boston, Mass., competing at the Northeastern Invitational. The meet will take place at the Reggie Lewis Center, the site of the indoor ECAC Championships, and will begin a season that will include several lengthy trips. Those journeys include Reno, Nev., for the annual Pole Vault Summit, Washington state for a highly touted meet, Akron, Ohio and hopefully, College Station, Texas, and that comprises only the indoor season.
The Keydet men look to improve upon last year's conference showing, where they finished third indoors and fourth outdoors. A well-accomplished senior class, including Felix Kitur, James Alexander, Dennis James, Terrence Green, Chad Lawson and Cody Davis, will try to do so alongside Ademola Titcombe, Ermin Mujezinovic, Andrey Dmitriev and Ian McGinn. The Keydet women will try to boost their point total from last year's indoor meet, where they put up a program record 52 points and had two conference champions, including the returning Kate Collins in the pole vault.
Event group previews appear below.
Middle Distance
Of course, any discussion of the VMI middle distance corps has to begin with senior Kitur. Kitur comes into his final track and field season in excellent shape, having just earned his first career all-conference honor in cross country, and will seek his third NCAA qualification outing in the 800-meters. The five-time Big South Champion, conference and school record holder has had a storied career, but is in quest of his first All-American berth, a slot he just missed in 2008, when he was the fastest freshman in the country and placed ninth at the national championships. He then qualified once again last year and finished 19th, following a season in which he held the eighth-fastest time in the country, prior to the Championship portion of the schedule.
This year, the Eldoret, Kenya native will have a middle distance wingman, as Dmitriev could run the 800 and 1,500 meters, among other events. The former Russian Junior Indoor Champion in the 1,500 and 3K, Dmitriev will be attempting to prove himself in America for the first time, as he did not compete last season. Dean Gonsalves and Jason Thorpe will also be looking to improve after strong first seasons at VMI, which included a berth in the conference's 1,500-meter finals for both runners.
On the women's side, the middle distance events will be run by a cornucopia of competitors. Tammy Cheung could see action, as she demonstrated a great deal of versatility during her high school career, running everything from the 800-meters through the 5K. Molly Western has 800-meter experience, while Rebecca Sweeney has competed in the 800 and 1,600-meter runs previously. Finally, the returning Leah Schubel dabbled in the 800, 1,500 and mile last season, including a 1,500-meter outing late in the season that saw her on school record pace early.
Danielle Dove will compete in the hurdles and other events for the women.
Distance/Steeplechase
The women's distance corps, under the tutelage of Cross Country Coach Paul Spangler, has progressed every year and adds even more talent this season. The unit will be led by this year's Big South Cross Country Freshman of the Year, Tammy Cheung, who ran a school record 18:00 (5K) at the Big South Championships. She could be a player this year as well, along with Jenna Moye, the 2009 Big South Cross Country Freshman of the Year, and Rebecca Sweeney, who was the Keydets' #3 runner at the Big South Cross Country meet. Lindsey Carty, who has scored at the conference level previously, also returns, and finally, freshman Dalton Kuhar comes off a breakthrough cross country season and should contribute in the 3K, 5K and steeplechase.
The Keydets will also have talent on the men's side, including McGinn and Mujezinovic. Mujezinovic enjoyed success in the middle distances last season, including a scoring performance in the indoor mile at the Big South meet, but could join McGinn in the steeplechase this year. McGinn scored in both the 5K and the steeplechase at last year's outdoor meet, and also notched points in the 5K and DMR indoors. Freshmen Jordan White and Cabell Willis, who come off solid cross country seasons, will also contribute, while sophomore Frank Van Valkenburg showed drastic improvement during the XC season and could score points in the Big South's 10K. Finally, the returning Dmitriev was the 2009 Russian Junior Indoor Champion in the 3K, and holds a PR of 8:27 in that event.
Throws
Senior Lawson returns to lead the throwers on the men's side. Lawson is a two-time IC4A qualifier, the 2009 Big South Indoor Champion in the weight throw and sits #3 all-time on the VMI performance list in that event. He also has earned all-conference honors in the discus and hammer outdoors. Expectations are high for his final VMI campaign, and the same could be said for Davis. Perhaps the most improved Keydet last year, Davis earned All-Big South honors in the shot put both indoor and outdoor, as his personal best marks went up more than a meter over the course of the year. Davis also qualified for the IC4A's in the shot put.
The Keydets also return two top-10 javelin throwers, Justin McCarthy and Tyler Brown. Brown showed a great deal of potential after coming over from baseball last season, while McCarthy will be looking to break through after spending most of last year in the top-15 on the conference's performance list. That conference performance list was, in fact, one of the best in Division I, as the Big South notched four of Division I's top 25 javelin throwers last season.
On the women's side, the throwers will be led by senior Aquisi Harris. Harris improved her personal best in the hammer throw nearly five meters last year, peaking at a 48.26 M (158'4”) toss in mid-April. She also finished fifth in the weight throw at the Big South Indoor Championships, and returns this year to try to qualify to the ECAC Championships. She will be joined by classmate Laura Resetar and freshman Mary Grace Lemon. Lemon was one of the top throwers in the state during her high school career, and will particularly be looked to for an impact in the discus during her first season on post.
The javelin throw will continue to be an area of depth for VMI as well, as the Keydets return a group that includes Kaitlin Harrison, who improved her PR by nearly eight meters during last outdoor season and was 11th overall in the conference.
Sprints
The sprinting corps will be led by Alexander and Titcombe, two men who return with experience after their junior and sophomore campaigns, respectively.
Alexander earned his first career individual All-Big South honor last year in Charleston, S.C., clocking in at 21.52 to finish second in the 200-meters. He then went on to anchor the 4X100 relay to an IC4A qualifying time at that meet, as well as pace the 4X400 relay to a second place finish. He also is a six-time IC4A qualifier and was one of VMI's team captains last season. This year, Alexander will be expected to continue his progression into a force in the conference, and return to the IC4A Championships in February and May.
Titcombe is traditionally known as a long and triple jumper, but has had success in the sprints as well. That included his performance at last year's indoor conference meet, where he finished third in the 60-meter dash to account for part of his 24 points (1st – long jump, 2nd – triple jump). He also posted an IC4A qualifying time in that event at the season-opening Liberty Kickoff, when he notched his personal best time of 6.95 seconds.
Kyle Fuller and Abraham Jordan will run the 400 and the hurdles for the Keydets, while freshman Jacob Lysher could contribute in the 500 and 800. Western, Sweeney and Schubel should be part of the contigent competing at the shorter distances for VMI.
Jumps/Multis
Titcombe will, once again, headline the VMI jumpers this season. The junior out of Alexandria, Va. put forth the best performance of his collegiate career at last year's Big South Indoor Meet, when he not only finished third in the 60-meter dash, but was second in the triple jump and won the long jump for his first career conference title. That long jump, a 7.24 meter (23'9”) effort, was the best indoor long jump in the Big South since 2005. Outdoors, he was third in the triple jump, and made trips to the IC4A Championships, both indoors and out.
Titcombe will continue to have a pair of wingmen in his best events, as Green and Nate Gant return for the upcoming season. While Titcombe tends to specialize in the triple jump, senior Green is a three-time conference scorer in the outdoor long jump and finished second in the indoor version in 2009. He also finished eighth in the triple jump at last year's Big South Outdoor Championships, and hopes to conclude his Keydet career with a solid season. Gant was sixth in the long jump at last year's indoor meet, but was beset by injuries throughout the outdoor season and was limited to just three meets.
High jump specialist James emerged with a bang last year, posting his first two IC4A qualifying performances in his trademark event. He would go on to clear the opening height at the outdoor IC4A's, 2.02 M, on his second attempt, setting himself up for a fourth-place finish. James was also fourth at both of the conference meets.
In the multi events, the Keydets return Antonio Wood, who was sixth in the decathlon at the outdoor conference meet, after leading for a portion of the first day. Wood posted a lifetime best performance at that meet, scoring 6,097 points, thanks in large part to a high jump (1.96 M) nearly five inches higher than his closest competitor. Michael Munson is the top returner in the multis, however, having finished fifth at last year's outdoor championships.
Jasmine Hairston returns to the Keydet lineup this season to lead the female jumpers. The redshirt sophomore is the school record holder in both the indoor and outdoor triple jumps, having jumped as far as 38'7" outdoors during her freshman year. Hairston is expected to be a player at the conference level, where she was fourth in the triple in 2008-09, and potentially make a run at a strong ECAC performance.
Also competing for the women is Zipporah McCann, one of the team captains for this season. McCann set the school record in the heptathlon at last year's Big South Championships, when she finished in eighth place with 3,894 points. She also threatened the record in the pentathlon, finishing sixth in that event at the indoor meet, and worked hard to improve in her best event, the long jump. There, the now-senior improved her PR to 5.51 M (18'1"), a leap which came during her conference heptathlon performance.
Vault
In the course of the past year, the women's pole vault has gone from a liability to a valuable asset for the Keydets, led by Collins and Jennifer Sing. Collins is the defending Big South Champion in the indoor discipline, as she prevailed on misses at last February's conference meet. She also holds the VMI record both indoors and outdoors, and was fourth at the outdoor conference meet. Meanwhile, Sing posted a new personal best at each of her outdoor events last year, culminating that run by clearing 11 feet at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier. She became just the third woman in Keydet history to clear that distance, joining Collins and former Keydet Nadia Wendlandt.
This season, Collins and Sing will be joined not only by returner Carrie Wortham, but by freshman Nicole Harding as well. Harding, a former training partner of Collins', was the 2010 indoor state champion and 2009 outdoor state runner-up in the vault, and should make an impact at the conference level relatively quickly.
