LEXINGTON, Va. – Looking to continue its momentum set last week in the season opener, the VMI track and field teams yielded excellent results at the VMI Team Challenge held Saturday at the Corps Physical Training Facility.
 
The VMI men's team placed fifth with 70 points on the day while the VMI women came in seventh overall with 37 points.
 
The men's DMR team of Zach Lauster, Quentin Bundy, Trent Whittaker, and Jahanzib Shahbaz placed first in the event with an IC4A qualifying time of 10:10.48. The VMI B team of Andre Jordan, Adam Waite, Dylan Haines and Walt Kitson placed third in 10:42.09.
 
After being named the SoCon Women's Field Athlete of the Week, junior thrower Sarah Leckman continued to thrive by placing first in the shot put with a distance of 14.20 meters (46'7-1/4"). Another women's field athlete, McKenna Dunn, came in third in the pole vault with a height of 3.50 meters (11'5-3/4").
 
Men's sophomore sprinter Jordin Poindexter started a great day by placing third in the 60-meter prelims in 6.96 seconds before going on to arrive in second in the finals for the event in 6.90. His time actually tied for first but was just .002 off from App State's De'Shawn Ballard's time of 6.895. He would go on to place fifth in the 200 meter in 21.99 seconds.
 
Men's field athletes Daniel Usher came in fifth in the shot put with a distance of 13.93 meters, while Griffin Kowal tied for first in the pole vault with a height of 4.65 meters.
 
The 800 meter race proved to be successful for both the VMI men and women as senior Julianne Knoblett placed fifth in the women's 800m in 2:21.49, while freshman David Fiorillo placed fourth in the men's 800 in 2:00.59.
 
"We competed hard, and I was really proud of the men and women vaulters, men's DMR, Sarah Leckman, Julianne Knoblett, Jordin Poindexter, and many others," said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. "The team as a whole just had some really good performances. I'm so proud of the group as a whole.  We are really working as a team and pushing each other.  It's really exciting to watch."
 
Senior James Granderson finished in fifth in the 60-meter hurdles prelims in 8.45 seconds before taking fourth in the finals in 8.39 seconds.
 
In the women's 200 meter, junior Ariana Ruffin came in fourth in 25.22 and was followed closely by Ingrid Joseph's seventh-place time of 25.83.
 
The women's 4x400 relay team of Ruffin, Marissa Linkous, Knoblett and Ahliyah Williams arrived in second place in 3:57.13. On the men's side, the 4x400 relay of Rafael Mas, Jahanzib Shahbaz, Quentin Bundy and Trent Whittaker finished third in 3:24.10 to complete the day for the Keydets.
 
The Keydets take next weekend off from competition but resume action on Feb. 7-8 by hosting the VMI Winter Relays at the CPTF in Lexington.
 
Men's Team Scores
1 - WCU - 127
2 – App State - 113
3 – Norfolk State - 88
4 - VCU - 85
5 - VMI - 70
6 - ETSU - 68
7 – The Citadel - 55
 
Women's Team Scores
1 – App State - 121.5
2 - WCU - 105
3 - ETSU - 104
4 - VCU - 93.5
5 -  Norfolk State - 74
6 -  Ohio - 44.5
7 - VMI - 37
8 – The Citadel - 5.5