Ryan Talbot winning the men's decathlon title highlighted four Spartans making the podium Saturday, as the Michigan State track and field team completed the second day of the 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at the University of Minnesota Track & Field Stadium.
For Talbot, he broke the program record for decathlon score en route to becoming the Big Ten champion, as he was joined on the podium by fellow decathlete and bronze medalist Heath Baldwin. Capping off MSU's night, Kate Stewart-Barnett and Andrew Nolan found their way onto the steeplechase podiums in their debuts at the Big Ten Championships.
Picking up where they left off on Friday, Baldwin and Talbot opened the second day of the men's decathlon with the 110m hurdles, where Baldwin took fourth at 14.68 and Talbot finished in sixth, using a personal-record 14.83 time. Talbot then took the decathlon lead with a first-place discus throw of 47.98m that also established another PR, while Baldwin tallied a new PR as well with a 41.04m throw that placed him fourth.
The pole vault saw Talbot extend his lead, tying his personal best with a 5.20m vault that garnered first in the event, while Baldwin took fifth with a 4.60m vault. Baldwin helped his own cause in the javelin, posting a season-best 59.64m throw to finish second, and Talbot placed fourth using a 53.32m throw to maintain his lead. In the final event of the decathlon, the 1500m, Talbot used a late kick to tally a 4:43.97 personal record and place fifth, with Baldwin right behind him at 4:44.42 for sixth. Talbot's 8,064 points surpassed the previous MSU record of 8,044 by Tim Ehrhardt in 2018, while Baldwin's 7,650 points set a new personal best.
Avery Budz also finished up her heptathlon competition, opening the second day with a 12th-place mark of 4.80m in the long jump before taking ninth in the javelin with a 25.27m throw. She wrapped up her first heptathlon by placing ninth in the 800m with a 2:35.50 time, earning her 11th overall in the final standings.
To read more about the Spartans' performance at the B1G Championships, visit msuspartans.com
