Strong Finishes Highlight Track Season

The VMI track and field teams have had strong finishes at recent meets, including the Winter Relays and the Keydet Invitational. Details from these meets are below. The team is on pace for top performances at the upcoming Southern Conference Championships Feb. 26-27 at home in VMI’s own Corps Physical Training Facility.

Winter Relays, Jan. 28-29

Looking for continued improvement in preparing for the upcoming SoCon Championships, the VMI track and field teams closed out the VMI Winter Relays with successful finishes and personal bests Jan. 29, 2022, at the Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington.

Eleyah Armstrong ’25 highlighted the women’s team efforts by placing second overall in the long jump at a distance of 5.67 meters.

In the mile run, Gretal Shank ’25 placed seventh overall in 5:26.05.

Ellie Miller ’22 earned an eighth-place finish in the shot put by throwing a distance of 11.48 meters.

“The women are getting a little better each day,” said Zack Scott ’89, VMI director of track and field and cross-country. “Freshman Eleyah Armstrong finished with a second-place long jump at 5.67m, a new personal best. Ahliyah Williams placed fourth, and Ellie Miller’s eighth-place finish put more of our women in the top 10 of the Southern Conference performance lists.”

Ingrid Joseph ’25 led the way in the 200-meter dash with a 10th-place finish in 25.87 seconds, just ahead of Armstrong’s time of 26.43 seconds for 15th place.

Rachael Dickenson ’22 performed well in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:01.87 to place 16th overall in the race.

On the men’s team, Jordin Poindexter ’22, sprinter, highlighted the day for the Keydets with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash in 21.34 seconds. Jeremiah Wilks ’25 also had a great performance, with a sixth-place time of 22.11 seconds for the event.

Keyandre Midgett ’24 also earned a spotlight by placing first in the long jump at 6.92 meters.

“There were great performances throughout the weekend for the men’s team moving up the Southern Conference performance lists,” said Scott.

Poindexter currently leads the Southern Conference in the 60m at 6.77 and 200m at 21.34. A second-place finish by Richard Edwards ’25 with a personal-best time of 50.02 pushed him up the Southern Conference list. A third-place finish by Zach Lauster ’22 in the 800m put them both in the top five in the 400m and 800m Southern Conference lists.

Earlier in the day, Poindexter finished second overall in the 60-meter dash final with a personal record time of 6.77 seconds, just two-hundredths of a second behind the leader.

In the shot put, Solomon Ghosh ’22 placed second overall at 14.42 meters. Teammate Herbert Brooks ’23 arrived in 18th place with a distance of 12.29 meters for the event.

Midgett came in third in the 60-meter hurdles final with a time of 8.26 seconds.

Kevin Linko ’23 finished the heptathlon in third place with 3,779 points, and Hunter Reed ’24 placed fourth with 3,611 points.

In the 500-meter run, Edwards placed second overall in 1:09.03, just ahead of Noah Schagelin ’23, who came in sixth in 1:09.99. Xander Topos ’25 also competed and placed eighth overall in 1:10.91.

Lauster led the team in the 800-meter run with a third-place time of 1:56.37, and senior Adam Waite ’22 logged a seventh-place mark of 2:00.31. Ian Irizarry-Negron ’22 also competed and came in 10th overall in 2:01.74.

Trent Whittaker ’23 led the way in the mile run with a fifth-place time of 4:19.45, just ahead of D. Alex Fiorillo ’23, who placed 12th overall in 4:23.91. In the high jump, Joshua Tuell ’25 earned a 10th-place finish at a height of 1.80 meters.

The Keydets return to action this weekend when they host the VMI Winter Classic Feb. 11-12 at the CPTF.

Keydet Invitational, Jan. 21-22
Looking for a strong finish to the 2022 Keydet Invitational, the VMI track and field teams accomplished the task with several first-place finishes and personal bests Jan. 21-22 at the Corps Physical Training Facility.

Midgett placed first in the 60-meter hurdles final with a first-place finish in 8.29 seconds, while teammates Topos (4th, 8.69s) and Isaiah Blount ’25 (5th, 9.36s) also had strong performances.

Poindexter matched his personal best in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.79 seconds, while Wilks came in fourth in 7.09 seconds. Wilks finished his day placing first overall in the 200-meter with a time of 22.21 seconds.

Lauster earned a 1:56.84 to earn first place in the 800-meter just ahead of Gavin Jenkins ’22, second place in a time of 1:57.18. Andre Jordan ’22 also competed and came in fourth in 1:58.13.

Schagelin came away with a second-place finish in the 500-meter with a time of 1:09.31.

The 4×400 relay team consisting of Topos, Edwards, Johnnie Walker ’22, and Rafael Mas ’22 placed second overall in 3:25.73.

Charles Male ’25 earned a second-place mark of 6.56 meters in the long jump, with Midgett close behind in third at 6.50 meters.

In the pole vault, Stephen Munson ’24 logged a second-place height of 3.90 meters, just above Linko’s fourth-place mark of 3.75 meters. Eric Thompson ’25 also showed well, with a height of 3.60 meters for fifth place.

Ghosh registered a fourth-place distance of 13.73 meters in the shot put, ahead of Blount’s fifth-place mark of 12.34 meters. Brooks (6th, 12.33m), Hunter Davis ’25 (7th, 12.30m), and Andrew Granger ’24 (8th, 12.24m) also competed well.

In the 3,000-meter run, Fiorillo came away with a seventh-place time of 8:58.12 for a strong performance.

For the Keydet women, Joseph highlighted the day with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.22 seconds. Teammate Nia Vaughan ’22 also competed in the event and placed 12th in 27.83 seconds.

Williams placed second overall in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:20.54.

The 4×400 relay team, consisting of Joseph, Marissa Linkous ’23, Shank, and Williams, placed third overall with a time of 4:08.04. The VMI B team, consisting of Vaughan, Yvonnia Perrello ’25, Alyssa Ingerson ’24, and Natalie Clark ’25, placed ninth overall in 4:53.53.

In the 800-meter, Ingerson came in fifth overall in 2:50.73. In other running events, Dickenson arrived in 13th overall in the mile run in 5:37.80, and Emily Wells ’23 earned a 14th-place time of 11:55.09 in the 3,000 meter.

Armstrong highlighted the field events for the women by placing sixth overall with a distance of 5.34 meters in the long jump.

Miller placed seventh overall in the shot put at 11.13 meters, while Jenna Kirkland ’24 logged a distance of 9.42 meters for 14th place. Perrello also competed in the event and earned a mark of 9.05 meters for 16th place.

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