Utah State Track And Field Heading To NCAA West Regional

Utah State’s track and field teams will send nine student-athletes to compete in 12 events at the NCAA West Regional track and field meet hosted by Cal State Northridge on Friday and Saturday, May 28-29.

This is the second year of regional meets, and the top five finishers in each event at each of the four regionals are guaranteed a spot at the NCAA Championships in June. In addition, approximately nine other individuals in each event will be selected to the NCAA meet based on a combination of factors, which include their regional finish as well as their position on the descending order list accumulated during the season.

Two Aggies will compete in multiple events in senior Josh Sides and sophomore Kelli Burton. Sides will compete in the hammer (61.66) and shot put (18.03) with the ninth and 11th best throws respectively in the region, while Burton will compete in the discus (51.84), shot put (15.58) and hammer (58.89), as she ranks seventh, 10th and 12th respectively in the region in those events.

Senior Ryan Bruhn has the best regional ranking for USU as his mark of 17.38 meters in the shot put is the fourth-best in the region. Fellow senior Mark Burton ranks 16th in the region in the shot put (17.38), while sophomore Christian Lee ranks 14th in the pole vault (5.18).

Other Aggie women to compete at the regional meet include freshmen Katie Thatcher and Amber Judd who will both compete in the 400 meter hurdles, freshman Carrie Bitton who will compete in the high jump, and sophomore Tiffany Strickland who will compete in the 3000 meter steeplechase.

Thatcher ranks 13th in the region in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.15, while Judd ranks 18th with a time of 1:00.77. Bitton ranks 18th in the region in the high jump with a mark of 1.73 meters, while Strickland ranks 29th in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:56.37.

Sides, who placed seventh in the hammer and ninth in the shot put at last year’s regional meet, is the only Aggie who claimed an individual title at the 2004 Big West Championships, winning both the hammer and shot put.

The nine USU competitors will be looking to qualify for the NCAA Championships slated for June 9-12 in Austin, Texas.