Indoor Track Season Concludes

Looking to cap off the indoor season with high honors, the VMI men’s track and field team had several stellar performances in the finals round of the IC4A/ECAC Championships March 6 in Boston, Massachusetts.

As a team, the Keydets finished 14th overall in the standings.

The distance medley relay team led the way Sunday with a second-place finish in 9:52.15. The team was comprised of Andre Jordan ’22, Johnnie Walker ’22, Trent Whittaker ’23, and Gavin Jenkins ’22.

Whittaker also competed in the 800-meter finals and logged a third-place finish in 1:49.59, a new personal record for the event.

Jordin Poindexter ’22, sprinter, also finished the weekend strong in both the 60-meter and 200-meter events. He came in sixth place in the 60m with a time of 6.94 seconds and followed it up with an eighth-place mark in the 200 meter in 21.41 seconds.

“It was another good day for VMI track and field,” said Zack Scott, track and field head coach. “We are proud of how our team competed and as a staff have learned a lot about what this team can do. We now get ready and look forward to the challenges of the outdoor season.”

For the VMI women, the 2022 indoor season came to a close with strong performances from Ahliyah Williams ’22 and Eleyah Armstrong ’25 March 5 in Boston.

Armstrong came in 19th overall in the 60-meter dash in 7.81 seconds and also showed well in the long jump competition, finishing 23rd overall at 5.04 meters.

Williams competed in the 400-meter dash and placed 22nd overall in 57.57 seconds.

“I am very proud of what our men and women’s teams were able to accomplish today,” said Scott. “Everyone who stepped on the track or runway representing the ‘I’ focused on what they could control and did their best to take advantage of this opportunity. They demonstrated once more that VMI can compete.”

The Keydets will have a week off from competition and prepare for the outdoor season, which begins the weekend of March 24-26 at the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State in Raleigh, North Carolina.

SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships, Feb. 26-27

Highlighting the end of the first day of the SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships was a reunion of former Keydet track and field athletes. More than 75 attendees gathered in Moody Hall for the celebration Feb. 26. In attendance were former team members from the Classes of 1966 through 2020.

That weekend, members of the Institute’s men’s and women’s indoor track teams finished their seasons with high placings in a number of events.

Several Keydets took home first-place honors to lead the VMI men’s track and field team to third place to conclude the 2022 Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 27 at VMI’s Corps Physical Training Facility.

Poindexter highlighted the meet for VMI by earning the Heath Whittle Award for the men’s most outstanding athlete. The Richmond, Virginia, native took first place in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, in addition to running a leg of the 4×400 relay team that took first place overall.

In the 60-meter, Poindexter ran a personal-best 6.74 to earn the individual title for the event and All-Conference honors, beating his previous best of 6.78 set earlier this season. In the 200-meter, he ran a 21.41 to earn the title and All-Conference accolades.

Whittaker came from behind on the final lap to take first in the 800-meter run in a personal-best 1:51.02 for All-Conference marks and VMI’s third individual title for the day.

The 4×400 relay team of Jeremiah Wilks ’25, Poindexter, Richard Edwards ’25, and Walker also earned a championship title by finishing first in 3:17.13, VMI’s fourth title event of the second day.

Walker nearly earned a title in the 400-meter by finishing as the runner-up in 48.44 seconds for All-Conference honors. Keyandre Midgett ’24 came in third in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.27 seconds to stand at the podium as a bronze medalist with All-Conference honors, and Xander Topos ’25 came in sixth in the event in 8.70 seconds.

Andrew Granger ’24 placed fourth in the weight throw with a distance of 15.48 meters and nearly made it to the podium. Midgett placed fourth in the triple jump at 14.32 meters.

Jenkins arrived in fifth in the mile run in 4:08.14, and Wilks placed sixth overall in the 200-meter in 22.23 seconds.

Isaiah Blount ’25 finished all seven heptathlon events in sixth place with 4,348 points.

The women’s team also finished with strong marks, highlighted by Ingrid Joseph ’22, sprinter.

The Keydet women placed sixth overall with 20.5 points over the course of the two-day event. Samford University repeated as champions on both the men’s and women’s sides.

Joseph finished the 60-meter dash in eighth place overall with a personal-best time of 7.79 seconds. The Washington, D.C., native would later complete the 200-meter dash in fifth place in a personal-best 25.44 seconds.

The 4×400 relay team of Marissa Linkous ’22, Joseph, Gretal Shank ’25, and Williams came in fifth place overall with a time of 4:02.07 to represent the program well.

Rachael Dickenson ’22 ran the 5K and finished in 20th place overall in 19:19.37.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared at vmikeydets.com.