USU track team finishes indoor season
The women’s track team placed third and the men’s team placed fourth in the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track Championships held Wednesday through Saturday in Nampa, Idaho.
In the women’s events, Louisiana Tech took first with 131 points and the University of Idaho placed second with 90 points.
The Aggie women’s team collected a solid 85 points. In the men’s events, Boise State University claimed first place with 154 points while the Aggie men’s team accumulated 86 points.
Gregg Gensel, head coach of the track and field program, said going into the meet Boise State was poised to be a tough contender for the men and Louisiana Tech would be the big competitor for the women’s team.
“We felt on the men’s side we could be anywhere from second to fifth and have a good meet because it was that close,” Gensel said.
And close it was on both sides, but especially for the women.
Gensel said that up to the final two events, the Aggie women’s team was in second place before the University of Idaho moved into second place. Gensel said Idaho gained many points because they had athletes compete in events that USU had nobody in.
“We had a lot of people that contributed,” Gensel said. “Jill Steele in the 800. Our distance runners did as well as they possibly could.”
Lacey Hulbert, a senior, was the first Utah State athlete to win an individual WAC championship event when she took first in the women’s heptathlon with a score of 3,914 points.
On Saturday, Hulbert grabbed another first-place victory in the high jump, clearing 1.75m (5-08.75).
Gensel said, “Lacey Hulbert did really well. She’s great to work with. She’s a wonderful athlete, very talented and very focused to do good.”
Senior Jill Steele took second place in the women’s 800-meter and set a new personal best with a time of 2:11.98. Junior Jennifer Twitchell placed fourth in the mile with a time of 4:54.71, and Stacie Lifferth, a sophomore, took fourth place in the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:06.19.
The Aggies claimed second place in the women’s distance medley with a time of 12:01.81, behind the University of Idaho, who set a WAC meet record with a time of 11:46.59. In the women’s 4×400-meter relay, USU women placed fifth with a time of 3:50.20.
Pole vaulter Kathryn Duhadway, who set a new school record in vaulting in January, vaulted to second place with a mark of 3.96m (12-11.75). She was just short of her personal best of 3.97m (13-00.25).
On the men’s side, Seth Wold, a sophomore, placed first in the men’s 3000-meter with a time of 8:31.00, and finished third in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:42.10.
Gensel said about Wold, “He’s just a great guy. He’s a little banged up injury-wise. He went into the meet with the attitude of ‘I’ll do the best that I can.’ We have to pull the reigns in on him more than letting him go. It’s a battle of keeping him from doing too much.”
Wold wasn’t the only Aggie to place high for USU. Logan Moore placed third in the heptathlon with a score of 4,991 points. DJ Smith took second place in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.78. With a time of 48.76, Dasheek Akwenye dashed to second place in the 400-meter.
The men took third place in both the 4×400 relay (3:20.49) and the distance medley (10:33.14).
On the field side, Clinton Silcock placed third in the high jump with a height of 2.06m (6-09.00). Freshman Palmer Hawkins finished second in the high jump, vaulting to a height of 4.40m (14-05.25), and set a new personal best.
Teammate Ryan Pevey, a freshman, placed sixth with a height of 4.10m (13-05.25) and also set a personal best.
The track team now begins their outdoor track season. Their first meet will be March 17 in Arizona.
“We have a better team outdoors and who knows what will happen?” Gensel said. “We have the people in place to do well in this conference if we can get everybody healthy.”
-sethhawkins@cc.usu.edu