VMI track and field begins its 2017 season on Friday, when the Keydets travel to Lynchburg to take part in the Liberty Kickoff. The two-day meet begins Friday at 1:15 p.m. and then resumes Saturday at 9 a.m. Admission is free to all spectators at the new Liberty Indoor Track Complex.
How to Follow
Fans can follow along with the action via live results. The link will be posted either on this article or on the track and field schedule page once it is made public.
Another New Facility
In a somewhat odd twist, the Keydets will open up two new facilities in back to back meets to start the year. This weekend's meet will be the first collegiate event at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex, which features a very rare six-lane, 200-meter hydraulically banked track. The two newest tracks to have those features in the U.S. are Liberty and VMI, and of course, the Keydets open their own new facility the following weekend against The Citadel.
Both facilities' surfaces were manufactured by Beynon, who also surfaced Oregon's Hayward Field.
Massive Fields
The initial events early in the season at Liberty often attract large fields, but this meet has drawn a herd of competitors. Over 320 athletes - between the men's and women's events - will run the 200-meter dash.
Events to Watch
Men's 60 Hurdles, 10 a.m. Saturday
After battling injuries through most of the 2016 outdoor season, Lee Warren gets a chance to return here. Warren is a former SoCon podium finisher and he will be facing a field that includes Malik Lewis of Bethune-Cookman, a former NCAA Preliminary Round qualifier outdoors, as well as Kornelius Klah of George Mason, 10th in the 110 hurdles at last year's IC4A Championships outdoors.
Women's Shot Put, Noon Saturday
Tiffany Quick is a podium contender in this event, ranked fourth on the pre-meet performance list. Quick will face a field that includes Catoria Sirmon of Bethune-Cookman, who enters with a seed mark of 14.22 meters, tops among the 67 women in the field. Liberty's Dasiana Larson, third in the Big South outdoors, is also entered in the field.
Men's Shot Put, 4 p.m. Saturday
While defending SoCon Field Athlete of the Year Jordan White has exhausted his indoor eligiblity, the Keydets return Grant Sanchez, who is seeded third on the pre-meet performance list. Sanchez will have to contend with a field that includes Chris Lee, the defending MEAC indoor champion in this event, and Anthony Britt of South Carolina State, third in the MEAC outdoors.
Next Time Out
Next weekend, the Keydets will finally have their long-awaited first meet inside the Corps Physical Training Facility, a dual against The Citadel. Action on Jan. 28 gets underway at 10 a.m.
