The men’s and women’s track teams both finished in the bottom half of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Bloomington, Ind., this weekend, but each had some bright spots.
Senior Paul Terek was named the 2001 Big Ten Athlete of the Meet for his record-breaking performance.
Terek set a school record and a Big Ten Outdoor Championship record with 7,695 points in the decathlon, automatically qualifying him for the NCAA Outdoor Championship in Eugene, Ore.
Terek already held the school record since 1999 and broke it earlier this season with 7,441 points. Junior Jeff Kus finished fourth in the decathlon with 6,901 points.
Terek also won the pole vault with a vault of 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches.
Sophomore Andy Lixey finished fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:49.30. Also, freshman Steve Manz finished fifth in the shot put with a throw of 58 feet, 4 1/2 inches.
The team as a whole tied for eighth place with Michigan, as each tallied 43 points. Wisconsin won the event, with 135 points.
The women’s team finished 10th at the championships, with 18 points. Host Indiana captured the Big Ten title, with 140 points.
Junior captain Ann Somerville captured third place in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:12.16. Sophomore Cindy Durocher took 18th in the same event.
Also on Sunday, the MSU 400-meter relay team took seventh with a time of 3:50.00.
Freshman Sarah Adelaine finished 10th in the javelin with a mark of 123 feet, 2 inches - the third-best throw in MSU history. Adelaine also took 16th in the shot put with a mark of 42 feet, 5 1/4 inches, 12th place in the hammer throw with a 149-feet, 1-inch toss, and 21st in the discus event.
Other top finishers for the Spartans included junior Katie Bonner, who finished 12th in the 3,000-meter run (10:14.37), junior Nadia Ricketts, who took 15th in the long jump, and sophomore Erin Alexander, who finished 17th in the long jump at 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches.
In Friday’s competition, freshman Michelle Carson led the Spartans with a third-place finish in the 10,000-meter run (35:32.51), while Somerville took fifth with a time of 36:18.95.
Men’s basketball
Head coach Tom Izzo will be an assistant coach for the U.S. Goodwill Games team scheduled to compete in the 2001 Goodwill Games on Sept. 3-9 in Brisbane, Australia.
Baseball
Sophomore center fielder Bob Malek was named to the first team All-Big Ten baseball squad. Malek hit .427 on the year and also set the MSU single-season hit record with 88, both of which led the Big Ten.
Junior pitcher Domanick Squires and freshman pitcher Bryan Gale were each named to the All-Big Ten second team.
Volleyball
Head coach Chuck Erbe has signed Tennessee high-schooler Brooke Langston to a National Letter of Intent for the 2001-02 school year.
Langston, a 6-foot-2 middle/outside hitter, was a two-time all-state honoree and a High School Christian Student-Athlete All-America First Team member.
