Lansing Sun

Seventeen athletes from Michigan State University are set to compete in the NCAA Track and Field East First Round, which starts on Wednesday, May 22, and runs through Saturday, May 25. The event will determine who advances to the NCAA Championships.

Five male athletes from MSU will begin their competitions on Wednesday with the pole vault event at 3 p.m. ET. Seven female athletes from MSU will start their events on Thursday. Men's finals will be held on Friday, followed by women's finals on Saturday. ESPN+ will provide live streaming of all four days of competition.

Athletes need to place within the top 12 in their respective events to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, scheduled for June 5-8. They will face off against top finishers from the West Regional taking place in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

A total of 18 Spartans earned entry into this preliminary round by securing a top-48 mark in their events during the outdoor season. However, sophomore Riley Hough is unable to participate due to an injury. This marks the highest number of student-athletes representing MSU since 2019 when 25 were selected for preliminaries.

The Spartans have previously competed at Shively Track and Field Stadium at the University of Kentucky during the Jim Green Invite held in April.

Graduate student Heath Baldwin is among those competing on Wednesday in the 110m hurdles event. Baldwin holds four school records and narrowly missed setting a fifth record with a time of 13.77 seconds at a recent Big Ten Championship meet.

Baldwin typically competes in decathlons but has chosen to focus solely on one event this time as he prepares for upcoming US Summer Olympic Trials. He was named MSU Athletics George Alderton Male Athlete of the Year for his achievements.

Graduate student CarLee Stimpfel returns to this stage after narrowly missing qualification last year with a 13th-place finish in the men's 10,000m race. Stimpfel transferred from Saginaw Valley State where he was recognized as a DII All-American multiple times.

Sophomore Adam Blue secured his spot with a personal best pole vault height achieved during an earlier meet at Lexington's Jim Green Invite.

Junior Noah Sage has had several podium finishes this season including second place at Len Paddock Invitational which qualified him for regionals based on his performance time recorded there (20:66).

Sophomore Colby Morlock enters ranked twenty-sixth overall thanks largely due outstanding shot put mark achieved back March Raleigh Relays event which saw him win while achieving personal record distance thrown (18:53).