DJ Smith sets school record in 100 dash
With the warm weather out in full force on Saturday, the Aggies men’s and women’s track and field team heated up to the tune of eight first-place finishes at Weber State.
Leading the way for the Aggie men was Senior DJ Smith. In record-setting fashion, he won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.28 seconds.
The time, which qualifies Smith for the NCAA championships, broke a 14-year old record that was held by Bode Osagiobare who in 1993 ran a time of 10.33. His time of 10.28 is currently first in the WAC.
Smith came in second place in the 200. He had a season best time of 21.34, which places him second in the WAC on the year.
The men’s 4×100 relay team claimed first place with a time of 40.57, just three one-hundredths of a second off an NCAA regional qualifying time. The relay team members are Smith, John Strang, Andy Davis, and Dasheek Akwenye.
Scott Bell clinched first place first place in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.51 seconds. Nicholas Karren came in third-place in the 400 hurdles with a time of 52.38 seconds, which qualified him for regionals.
Kevin Liu led the way for the Aggies in the field events as he placed seventh in the shot put, fifth in the discus, and fourth in the hammer. Chase Taylor recorded a fifth-place finish in the Javelin.
The top three Aggie men in the 1500 race all finished within half a second of each other. Ben Kessen came in fifth place overall with a time of 3:59.57. Vance Twitchell and Aaron Clements followed closely behind to finish sixth and seventh place respectively.
For the Women, Senior Amber Peterson had two first place victories. She finished first in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.94 seconds, which was her personal best. She won the 400 race with a time of 54.91 seconds.
Senior Jennifer Twitchell secured a spot in the regional race with a qualifying time of 4:32.72. in the 1500 meter relay. Caroline Berry led the way for the women in the 5,000 with a time of 18:25, coming in second place overall.
Krista Larsen finished in the top ten of all three of her field events. She finished sixth place in discuss and tenth place in both the shot put and hammer.
Both the men and women will compete again Saturday s they host the Mark Faldmo Invitational.
-samabry@cc.usu.edu