Qualified VMI track and field athletes are back in action this weekend, taking part in the IC4A/ECAC Championships, held in Boston, Mass. beginning Friday at 4 p.m. VMI will take 12 athletes, three women and nine men, to the annual event held at Boston University. Live results will be available via LancerTiming.com, linked above.
What are the IC4A/ECAC Championships?
The IC4A/ECAC Championships are, in fact, a conference championship, as the ECAC, or Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference is a group of approximately 300 schools located throughout the northeast. Many of them belong to another conference as well as their membership in the ECAC, for example, Princeton has hosted the outdoor IC4A/ECAC Championships many times.
The IC4A title is an acronym standing for Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, and is the title given to the ECAC's Division I men's championships in indoor track and field, outdoor track and field and cross country. Liberty and VMI are the only two Big South schools with associate memberships in the ECAC, and thus, are the only Big South schools sending athletes to Boston for this weekend's proceedings.
VMI at Boston University
This track is the site of one of VMI track and field's great moments of recent years, the 2011 indoor IC4A Championships. At that meet, Felix Kitur split a 1:47.45 to anchor the 4X800-meter relay to not only an IC4A title, but the fastest 4X800 time in the world that season.
Keep it in Mind
This weekend, you may see times referred to as "converted", or similar terminology used, particularly for times to qualify to the IC4A/ECAC meet. This is referencing the NCAA's flat track conversions, a multiplier table that indicates what a flat track time would equal had it been run on a faster, banked oval. The flat track conversions are designed to level the playing field, so to speak, in terms of the ability to qualify for championships based on the type of track run on.
How They Got Here
ECAC Qualifiers
Jenna Moye, Mile, Saturday (3:35 p.m., prelims)
Moye got her season off to a great start, just missing a school record in the 3K the meet before qualifying to this meet in the mile (1/19 at JDL Fast Track). After that, however, she incurred an injury and missed more than a month of action before returning to win her first Big South individual title last week in Winston-Salem, N.C. This is Moye's second ECAC appearance indoors, following her 11th-place finish in the mile in 2011.
Renee Reives, Shot Put, Sunday (9:30 a.m.)
Reives qualified for these championships at the same meet Moye did, doing so Jan. 19 in Winston-Salem, but bettered her personal best on two more occasions. The last of those came Feb. 16 at the VMI Winter Relays, where she closed to within a foot of the school record in the event. Reives then finished second at the following week's Big South Championships.
Kelsey Newcomb, 800-Meters, Saturday (4:50 p.m., prelims)
Newcomb was one of VMI's biggest revelations at the Big South meet, emerging in the preliminaries with a school record in the 800-meters, a time that was also the top qualifying effort for the finals. She would go on to finish sixth the following day.
IC4A Qualifiers
Antonio Wood, Heptathlon and Long Jump (4 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. Sunday)
Wood, looking for his second straight podium finish in the IC4A heptathlon, is coming off a seasonal best at last week's Big South meet in winning that event's title. He is also entered in the long jump after qualifying with a 7.21 meter leap at the season opener in December.
Avion Jones, High Jump - Saturday, 11 a.m.
Jones' story is one that followers of the VMI program know - He emerged with an IC4A qualifying effort at his first meet, entered the top-five in program history shortly thereafter and went undefeated until finishing second at the Big South meet last week. He is ranked in a tie for 12th among all IC4A qualifiers in this event.
Aron Long, 200-Meters - Saturday, 12:05 p.m.
Freshman Long comes off a sixth-place finish in his best event, the 200, at the Big South Indoor Championships. He qualified for this event Feb. 8 at Liberty, becoming the first Keydet to qualify for the IC4A's in a distance shorter than 800-meters since the 2011 outdoor season.
Jacob Lysher, 800-Meters - Saturday, 11:35 a.m.
Lysher has had back to back excellent weeks, as after qualifying with the DMR squad Feb. 16 despite a fall, he would go on to qualify for this meet in the 800 at the Big South Championships. Lysher then went on to claim his first Big South individual title the following day.
Avery Martin, 800-Meters - Saturday, 11:35 a.m.
Martin qualified for this meet in the preliminaries at the Big South Championships and went on to finish eighth at that event.
Distance Medley Relay (Andrey Dmitriev, Gabe Fisher, Jason Thorpe, Julian Jackson) - Saturday, 12:45 p.m.
The DMR qualified on Feb. 16 at the JDL Fast Track, surviving an in-race fall to do so.
