Brandon Ratliff got his indoor season off to a successful start in Saginaw.
Michigan-based athletes continue to impress in the early stages of the indoor track and field season. This past weekend, Saginaw Valley State University hosted their MITS #1 meet at the Ryder Center and similar to the MITS - GVSU #1 meet from the week before, the runners, jumpers and throwers who were in action put up strong results.
Notably, Ben Jacobs took the 1600m win with a Michigan No. 1 time of 4:25.41. Jacobs, who recently committed to the University of Michigan, is coming off a stellar cross country campaign that was highlighted by his third place finish at the Division 2 State Championship. In hurdles action, Illinois State University signee, Brandon Ratliff went 8.35 for the victory. He currently resides at number two in the state rankings due to this effort. Elsewhere, Wesley Simpson and Chandler Cheeks had a spirited duel in heat 1 of the 400m competition. Simpson earned the triumph in 50.21 with Cheeks taking runner-up honors in 50.45.
On the ladies side, Hannah Smith threatened the 5 minute standard during her emphatic win in the 1600m event. She ended up going 5:08.09 for a comfortable thirteen second spread over the second place finisher, Jennifer Ohlsson. A trio of athletes ran under 1 minute in the 400 with Chloe Vines taking first in 58.33. Jada Roundtree was close behind for second in 58.34 and Allie Erikien rounded out the top three in 59.24. New Balance Nationals Indoor veteran, Aasia Laurencin earned the 60m and 60m hurdles wins with her times of 7.88 and 8.95, respectively. Both clockings represent state bests this season.