The VMI track and field teams enjoyed a solid year in 2010-11, including a second-place finish (men's) at the Big South Indoor Championships, where VMI head coach Darrin Webb was named Coach of the Year. The teams also hosted the Big South Outdoor Championships at Read Memorial Track, which saw several Keydets earn honors. A complete recap follows.
Men's Team
Senior Felix Kitur, completing his final year of track eligibility, led the way for the men's team throughout the season. After suffering through perhaps the worst race of his career in the season opener, Kitur went on an epic run and was undefeated for the remainder of the indoor campaign. That included yet another Big South title in the 800-meters, his third indoors, as he helped the team to the aforementioned second-place finish.
VMI edged out Charleston Southern by 4.5 points for that result, helped not only by Kitur, but by 17 points in the mile and 14 points in the heptathlon. Antonio Wood, who finished second in the heptathlon, was also third in the long jump at the meet, accounting for 14 points on his own, while senior Ermin Mujezinovic earned All-Conference honors in the mile by finishing third. Teammate Dean Gonsalves was fifth, while freshman Cabell Willis posted his first career conference points by placing seventh.
Senior Dennis James also helped boost the squad's efforts, winning the open high jump for his first career conference title. The effort came after he had cleared 7'1" in the heptathlon high jump, a new personal best and the third-best mark in VMI history.
For the effort, VMI's Coach Webb was named the Men's Indoor Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.
Following the indoor meet, the Keydets were back in action at the IC4A Championships. There, Kitur won the open 800 for the second straight year, but fell short of his personal goal, a time that he felt would have punched his ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships. The senior came back just hours later and made a statement, anchoring the VMI 4X800 relay not only to a title, but the fastest time in the world during the indoor season (7:24.70).
Gonsalves, Jacob Lysher and Andrey Dmitriev also were on that relay, and Dmitriev competed at IC4A's as well, qualifying in the mile.
The outdoor season got underway in Lexington, as the Keydets co-hosted a meet at Washington & Lee. Thrower Chad Lawson won two events, the hammer and the discus, en route to an appearance at the IC4A Championships, and Kitur got his final outdoor season off to a quick start. Thanks to a spirited rabbiting effort by Gonsalves, Kitur recorded a meet-record time that led Division I at that early portion of the season.
From there, it was on to Liberty, where both Lawson and fellow senior thrower Cody Davis posted IC4A qualifying marks. A meet at George Mason April 9 saw Kitur beat eventual NCAA champion Robby Andrews of Virginia, and the High Point VertKlasse Meet the following weekend also saw Kitur in action. There, he finished third in a 400-meter race, marking his first defeat since that season-opening setback in December.
That brought the team back home to Lexington for the conference championships, where the team would wind up fourth, but had several notable efforts. At the top of that list was Kitur, who not only won the 800-meters, but captured the 1,500-meters as well to earn Most Outstanding Track Performer honors. The 1,500 win came in Kitur's first collegiate race at that distance, while the 800 victory was his seventh career (indoor and outdoor) and his fourth straight outdoor win in the event. He became the fifth male Big South athlete to sweep an event all four years of eligibility, while becoming just the second such competitor to win seven of eight possible events in a single discipline.
Fellow seniors Davis and James posted strong performances as well, earning runner-up finishes in their strongest events. James was second in the high jump after his indoor title, clearing 2.09 meters (6'10 1/4"), while Davis posted his second straight runner-up finish in the shot put, throwing the implement 15.79 meters (51'9 3/4"). Antonio Wood also earned a runner-up finish, holding on for second place despite suffering a leg injury on day one of the decathlon.
Redshirt freshman Dmitriev, competing in his first outdoor championships, also was very impressive. Not only did he place second in the 1,500, but he came home third in the 800 as well. It would be Dmitriev who would post VMI's most notable effort at its next meet, a last chance qualifier at Radford just over a week later. The Russian native ran a 3:48.89 1,500-meters, the fifth-fastest effort in VMI history and a new facility record.
Dmitriev would go on to place ninth in his first career IC4A final, but the story at IC's was again Kitur and James. Kitur won his first IC4A outdoor crown, while James finished fourth in the high jump for the second straight year. Davis, Lawson and James Alexander also wrapped up their stellar careers in Princeton, marking the beginning of the end for the standout VMI senior class.
Both James and Kitur moved on to the NCAA Preliminary Round, where they would make bids to advance to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. The preliminaries were held in Bloomington, Ind., and once again, Kitur showed his mettle. He claimed victories in both of his heats, moving himself through to Des Moines and his third career appearance at the NCAA Championships. He would go into the meet on quite the streak, having won 17 of his past 18 races, with the only blemish being the 400-meter race at High Point in mid-April.
Meanwhile, James, the heavy underdog, finished tied for 15th at the preliminaries, bringing to an end his outstanding career. He did clear 2.11 M (6'11"), however, marking a lifetime outdoor best.
Only one Keydet senior remained, as Kitur headed to the Hawkeye State for his NCAA Championship bid. He went out hard in the early moments of the 800, moving to second place on the backstretch. As the field positioned itself for the final kick, however, Kitur was trapped on the rail and unable to maneuver out of that position. He would finish 7th in his heat and 21st overall, ending one of the most storied careers in VMI history.
One meet was left for the Keydets, as freshman Cabell Willis had qualified to the USATF Junior Championships in Eugene, Ore. Willis had earned berths in two events during his standout freshman season, which saw him score in three conference events, but he opted to run the 1,500 in Oregon. He would finish 31st, ending the VMI track and field season.
Women's Team
The 2010-11 season was highlighted by the performance of three athletes: Jennifer Sing, Mary Grace Lemon and Jenna Moye.
Moye was the first to make her mark on the season, breaking the Keydet record in the mile at December's season opener in Boston. She would go on to set school records in her first three individual events, including setting a new standard in the 3K at the Hokie Invitational and re-setting the mile mark in Akron in February. That Akron meet saw Moye clock in at 4:55.96, as she became the first VMI woman to run a sub-5:00 mile.
The sophomore would go on to score 20 individual points at the Big South meet, finishing second in the 3,000-meters, third in the mile and third in the 5,000-meters. That would help VMI finish seventh, and put the team just shy of advancing considerably further, as the squad placed just 15 points behind third place UNC Asheville.
Also at the Big South meet, VMI had two pole vaulters in the top four, with Kate Collins finishing fourth and Sing tying for second. Sing's 11'9 3/4" (3.60 M) was a new school record, and a sign of things to come in the outdoor season.
In addition, Jasmine Hariston had two scoring efforts at the conference championships, finishing third in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump.
Sing would go on to take part in the ECAC Championships, while Moye placed 11th in the mile at that event, sending the Keydets to their outdoor season.
On April 2, Sing broke the outdoor pole vault school record by becoming the first Keydet woman to go over 12 feet. She would go on to do so in six straight meets to close out the season, and en route, not only finished second at the outdoor conference meet, but finished sixth at the ECAC Championships as well. Her best clearance on the year was a 3.80 M (12'5 1/2") set during April 29's last chance meet in Radford.
Although she posted multiple PR's in other events throughout the year, Lemon's standout performance came on her opening discus throw at the conference championships. There, she uncorked a 44.02 M (144'5") toss that held up as the day's best, and earned her a conference title and new school record. For that, she earned Big South Freshman of the Year honors, the first Keydet woman to ever earn that laurel, while also qualifying for the ECAC Championships. She would go on to finish 17th at that event.
