BLACKSBURG, Va. – Quincy Murphy won the heptathlon with a personal best score and Andrey Dmitriev claimed his second career Big South crown in the mile, leading the VMI Keydet men's track and field team to a fourth-place finish at the Big South Indoor Championships, which concluded Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.
The Keydets wound up fourth in the team standings with 73 points, 15 points ahead of fifth-place Gardner-Webb. Liberty won the team title with 161.5 markers, while Campbell finished second with 137 points and High Point placed third (108). Radford (55.5), Charleston Southern (52), Winthrop (12) and UNC Asheville (6) rounded out the team standings.
Murphy was one of the standouts of the day, as he scored 5,045 points in the heptathlon to take the crown. The junior had entered the day trailing Zach Davis of Liberty by 86 points, but outscored Davis by 361 points in day two's opening competition, the 60-meter hurdles. Murphy ran an 8.33 second effort to take the lead for good and win his first Big South title. He also competed Saturday in the open 60-meter hurdles and finished fourth, setting a personal best for the second straight day with his 8.20 clocking.
Dmitriev, meanwhile, had a strong day as well. The redshirt senior won his second Big South mile championship in the past three years, beating such names as Jacob Smith of High Point and heavy favorite Chris Schulist of Campbell by breaking the tape in 4:08.34. He was not the only Keydet to score in the mile, as Avery Martin was sixth with a time of 4:14.71, and both Dmitriev and Martin scored in the 800 as well. Martin was the top VMI finisher in that event, placing second in 1:53.58 while Dmitriev was fifth (1:55.17) and Jacob Lysher finished eighth (1:57.94).
The other VMI victory on the day came in the 4X400-meter relay and Lysher played a key role in that, running anchor on the victorious team. Jordan Bailey (49.8), Julian Jackson (49.6), Yol Ho Sung (49.5) and Lysher (48.5) teamed up to run a 3:17.90 and qualify for the IC4A Championships in the event.
Bailey, meanwhile, also ran a 50.22 to finish eighth in the final of the open 400.
Joel Hoisington also had a strong performance, logging a personal best in the shot put as he stretched the tape to 15.28 meters (50'1 ¾”) on his final throw of the competition to earn a fifth-place finish. In addition, Aron Long was fifth in the 200-meters and Greg Henderson finished eighth, crossing the line in 21.85 and 22.45 respectively.
"I am very proud of the way we competed this weekend," said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. "We posted over 70 seasonal bests and it was very exciting to watch. There were many great accomplishments, but on the men's side, the performances of Andrey Dmitriev and Quincy Murphy were particularly excellent, as well as the 4X4's winning run. Aron Long in the 200, Avery Martin in multiple events and Joel Hoisington in the shot put certainly stand out as well. This whole team did everything I asked - They competed, stayed involved and fought with great intensity all the way through the final event."
VMI track and field is back in action March 7, as qualified Keydets begin action at the IC4A Championships in Boston, Mass.
