Sizeable steps forward for several key members of the roster, including Aron Long and Jordan White, two more conference championships for Quincy Murphy and regional contention for Avery Martin were the hallmark of the 2014-15 VMI men's track and field season.
The year got underway in January at the ETSU Invite and White quickly served notice that he was back after missing a full year. He finished third in the shot put and fifth in the weight at that meet, and would go on to an IC4A qualifying effort in the shot two weeks later at Youngstown State.
In the interim, it was Martin who made the biggest impact, posting IC4A qualifying efforts in three different events over a two-meet span (Virginia Tech and YSU). He qualified in the mile at Tech to be VMI's first IC4A qualifier of the season, and went on to add 1,000-meter and 800-meter qualifications in the Keydets' next meet at Youngstown State.
Also at YSU, it was Murphy posting a new personal best and nearly setting a facility record at the well-known home facility of the Penguins, as he fell just 23 points shy of former teammate Antonio Wood's mark by scoring 5,074 in the heptathlon.
The Keydets would go on to a third-place finish indoors that included a heptathlon title for Murphy, two podium finishes for Martin and a conference title in the shot put for White. Long also finished third in the 200 in what was a sign of things to come.
The Keydets then wrapped up their year at the IC4A meet, where Martin finished eighth in the mile and Murphy was eighth in the heptathlon, giving the team a 41st-place team finish. White was also in action and finished 16th in the shot put.
The outdoor season got underway in Richmond on March 27-28 and on the men's side, one of the highlights was Jacob Lysher finishing third in his first 800-meter race in precisely one year. Lysher had missed the past 365 days due to various injuries. That meet also saw Martin set a meet record in the 1,500-meters and qualify for the outdoor IC4A's in that event.
From there, the Keydets went on to High Point, where Davon Guerrier notched an IC4A qualification in the 110 hurdles and to George Mason, where both Murphy and Lee Warren went under 15.05 in that event to earn top-eight finishes in a crowded field.
VMI's final tune-up for conference, the Charlotte Invite, saw White finish in the top seven in both the shot (third) and discus (seventh). Murphy and Guerrier were third and fourth respectively in the 110 hurdles as well, while freshman Donovan Walton was seventh in the javelin.
That led the Keydets in into the conference meet, and from a Keydet perspective, it was a breakthrough weekend for Long. Long posted IC4A qualifying times in both the 100 and 200 on the meet's opening day, including the fastest 100 by a Keydet since 2006 (10.70) and the seventh-fastest 200 in school history (21.37). He would go on to run a race-winning 21.33 in the 200 the next day to lower that time, and would add a second-place finish in the 100 at 10.67. Long would tack on a fourth-place finish in the 4X1.
Murphy tacked on another multi-event title, winning the decathlon, as the Keydets finished in fourth place overall with 89 points.
Other top results included Martin's runner-up finish in the 1,500-meters.
The Keydets would close out their year with a last chance meet at Applachian State, where Martin posted a altitude-adjusted 3:46.15 to nearly qualify for the East Region Preliminary Round meet. He would narrowly miss the event on the list announced weeks later. Lysher qualified for the IC4A meet with a 1:51.39 at the event.
The IC4A meet wrapped up the season, as Martin led the way with a 13th-place finish in the 1,500.
Conference Finishes
Indoor - 3rd of 8 (98.5 points)
Outdoor - 4th of 9 (89 points)
All-Conference
Indoor
Jordan White - Shot Put
Quincy Murphy - Heptathlon, 60-meter hurdles
Avery Martin - Mile, 800-meters
Aron Long - 200-meters
Julian Jackson - 400-meters
Outdoor
Aron Long - 100-meters, 200-meters
Avery Martin - 1,500-meters
Quincy Murphy - Decathlon, 110-meter hurdles
4X400-meter relay - Martin, Hartman, Gould, Jackson
All-SoCon Freshman Team
Indoor
Lee Warren - 60-meter hurdles
Outdoor
Donovan Walton - Javelin
Killian Carey - Decathlon, Discus
Jeremiah Sokol - Decathlon
Davon Guerrier - 110-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles
Josh Willard - 800-meter run
IC4A Qualifiers
Indoor
Avery Martin - Mile, 1,000-meters, 800-meters
Aron Long - 200-meters
Quincy Murphy - Heptathlon
Jordan White - Shot Put
Julian Jackson - 200-meters
Outdoor
Aron Long - 100-meters, 200-meters
Jacob Lysher - 800-meters
4X100-meter relay - Jackson. D. Guerrier, Long, Reed
4X400-meter relay - Hartman, Gould, Martin, Jackson
Quincy Murphy - 110-meter hurdles
Davon Guerrier - 110-meter hurdles
Avery Martin - 1,500-meters
Jordan White - Shot Put
SoCon Academic All-Conference - Winter (Spring Pending)
Blake Condrey
Daniel DeNijs
Luke Phillips
VMI Academic Awards
Elite 18
Daniel DeNijs
Athletic Director's Honor Society
Daniel DeNijs
Luke Phillips
Brandon White
Cadet-Athlete Scholar Society
Zach Chase
Blake Condrey
Sean Connolly
Tyler Robinson
Steven Trayer
Donovan Walton
Jay Broom
Daniel DeNijs
Tripp Fitch
Luke Lysher
Luke Phillips
Tyler Richards
Brandon White
Josh Willard
Buka Anwah - Fall Only
Javon Guerrier - Fall Only
Philip Harpen - Fall Only
Ross Condrey - Spring Only
Patrick Spahn - Spring Only
