The VMI track and field programs will open their 2010-11 seasons Saturday, as the teams travel to Boston, Mass. to take part in the Jay Carisella Track and Field Invitational, hosted by Northeastern University at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.VMIKeydets.com will be on hand with live updates via Twitter (see link above).
The meet marks the beginning of the last collegiate track campaign for Felix Kitur, and the start of Andrey Dmitriev's first. It also gets underway the collegiate track careers of Cabell Willis, Jordan White, Mary Grace Lemon and Nicole Harding, all of whom are scheduled to compete Saturday.
Men's Events to Watch
800-Meter Run - Kitur
begins his quest for his first career All-American berth in Boston, as
he leads off his final collegiate track and field season as the top
seed Saturday. In fact, he will start defense of his IC4A indoor crown
on the same track on which he won it last season. Kitur, a two-time
national qualifier outdoors, has never advanced to the NCAA Indoor
Championships, but does hold a pair of Big South Indoor titles, along
with the 2010 IC4A indoor championship. Freshman Jacob Lysher will make
his collegiate debut in this race.
3,000-Meter Run - In
a moment VMI track supporters have been waiting for, Andrey Dmitriev
makes his collegiate debut in this race. The Russian was his country's
junior indoor champion at this distance in 2009 and is seeded fifth
here, coming off All-Big South honors during the cross country season.
Ermin Mujezinovic is right behind him, as he hopes to get his season
off to a strong start as well.
Weight Throw - Senior
team captain Chad Lawson is the top-ranked thrower entering the
competition, with a seed mark of 18.15 meters. Lawson qualified for
IC4A's last outdoor season in the discus, and is a former (2009) Big
South Champion in the weight throw. Cody Davis, who became one of VMI's
all-time leading shot putters last season, is entered both here and in
that event as well.
Triple Jump
- Ademola Titcombe makes an appearance in this event, his specialty,
and is by far the highest-seeded collegiate competitor. In fact, he is
seeded second overall and is one of only two athletes to be over the
14-meter seed mark, joining open competitor Daniel Hutcherson. Titcombe
is also entered in the 55-meter dash, where he is ranked fourth on the
preliminary time charts. He is bidding for his second straight IC4A
qualifying time in the triple jump, and also his second straightsuch effort in the short indoor sprints, as he posted a 60-meter qualification effort in last year's season opener at Liberty.
5,000-Meter Run - The freshman cross country crew makes its collegiate debut here, as Cabell Willis, Jordan White and Will Thompson are all in action for the first time. Willis has a 5K personal best of 16:09 from high school, but could reasonably be expected to improve greatly on that here. Veteran Marshall Dalessandro and the improving Frank Van Valkenburg are also on the entry list here, making this the event with the largest number of Keydets entered.
Women's Events to Watch
5,000-Meter Run - Big South Freshman of the Year Tammy Cheung leads VMI here, as she is the top-seeded collegiate runner in the event. In fact, the Keydets have three of the top four collegians in this race. Cheung's classmate, Dalton Kuhar, will run here after a breakthrough cross country season, while Lindsey Carty hopes to rebound after an injury-plagued XC campaign. Carty was 13th in the outdoor 5K at last year's Big South Outdoor Championships.
Pole Vault - For many years, this was an event that the Keydets struggled in. In fact, until last season, only one VMI woman (Nadia Wendlandt) had ever cleared the 11-foot barrier. Kate Collins and Jennifer Sing both accomplished that feat last year, and both return this season to try to better it. Collins was last year's conference indoor champion, while Sing had an impressive run of consecutive PR's during the outdoor year, and both competitors scored at the outdoor conference meet. Collins and Sing will be joined by returner Carrie Wortham, who has had a strong fall, and freshman Nicole Harding, a former training partner of Collins who was the 2010 indoor state champion.
Shot Put - This event is intriguing for a simple reason. It marks the first collegiate meet for freshman Mary Grace Lemon, who was one of the top high school throwers in the state of Virginia last year. While her true skill lies in the discus, where she ranked second in Virginia last season, Lemon was a two-time state finalist in the shot as well. She is seeded sixth for her collegiate debut Saturday, and will also join Laura Resetar and Kelsey McCusker in the weight throw.
Triple Jump - After redshirting the 2009-10 season, Jasmine Hariston returns Saturday for her first meet in a Keydet uniform since April of 2009. Hariston holds the Keydet records in both the indoor and outdoor versions of this event, and, coming off a strong fall, is seeded at the top of the charts here. She is also the top-ranked collegiate competitor in the long jump, with team co-captain Zipporah McCann right behind her.
