Keydet men compete in the 1,000 meter race during the VMI Winter Relays, Jan. 29-30 in the Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington.—Randall K. Wolf photo courtesy VMI Keydets.
The VMI track and field teams showed continued improvement at the VMI Winter Relays at the Corps Physical Training Facility Jan. 29-30, 2021. The winter season, through the Southern Conference Championships, is on home ground for the Keydets inside the CPTF.
Ariana Ruffin ’21 earned a first-place finish in the women’s 200-meter in 24.85 seconds, and teammate Nia Vaughan ’22 came in seventh overall in 27.01.
In the women’s 500-meter, Ahliyah Williams ’22 placed second overall in 1:19.59 and was followed closely by Marissa Linkous ’22 in third with a time of 1:22.80.
Jordin Poindexter ’22 shined in the men’s 60-meter with a second-place time of 6.96 seconds.
Stephen Munson ’24 also had an impressive showing in his first career heptathlon as he secured a fourth-place mark with 3,911 combined points through the seven events.
“I was pleased with the progress and consistency we have seen week to week,” said Darrin Webb, VMI director of track and field. “Our freshmen are really competing hard, and as they get more and more recovered over the next few weeks, I expect to see a big jump in results from them, as well.
“In addition, I thought freshman Stephen Munson [’24] did a really good job in his first collegiate multi and I expect him and that whole group to make big gains over the next few weeks. I was also very pleased with the results yesterday in the 1,000m, especially Whittaker [’23] and Jenkins [’22]. There were some really good performances in the shot and weight by Andrew Granger [’24], Herbert Brooks[’23], Solomon Ghosh [’22], Stephanie Jones [’22], and Ellie Miller [’22].”
Poindexter came in third in the men’s 200-meter with a third-place mark of 22.05 seconds, first in his heat. Jonathan Gray ’22 came in eighth for the event in 22.73.
Solomon Ghosh ’22 performed well in the men’s shot put with a fourth-place distance of 13.62 meters (44’ 8.25”), while Ellie Miller ’22 came in third in the shot with a distance of 11.15 meters (36’ 7”).
Walt Kitson ’21 arrived in sixth in the men’s 800 with a time of 1:59.20, while William Rich ’23 placed fifth in the men’s 3,000-meter in 9:08.27.
Running unattached, Jahanzib Shahbaz ’20 placed first in the men’s mile run in 4:07.48. Shahbaz used his eligibility for indoor track last year but will compete for the Keydets in the outdoor season.
The Keydets are preparing for their fourth hosted event of the indoor season, the VMI Winter Classic, at the CPTF Feb. 12-13.
Editor’s Note: This article was first published at vmikeydets.com, where complete meet results and updated schedules are available.
