Eight different Aggies set personal records at Speed and Power Meet
LOGAN — For the first and only home meet of the indoor season, Utah State hosted the Aggie Speed and Power Meet at the George Nelson Fieldhouse on Saturday. Competing against Weber State, Utah, Utah Valley, Salt Lake Community, Westminster, Brigham Young and some individual entries, the Aggies had 42 top-three-finishes with 19 athletes placing first.
Director of Track and Field, Matt Ingebritsen, believes that the meet couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We had two long weeks of traveling leading up to this,” Ingebritsen said. “It was really nice for the athletes to be able to get excited about competing at home. The fact that they can come in here and put down performances like this, I think it gives them a lot of confidence going into the next two meets.”
Starting USU off strong, both women’s and men’s weight throw placed first. Senior Tori Baily threw for 18.27 meters for the women and sophomore Nate Franz threw for 16.87 meters for the men. USU also took first in men’s and women’s triple jump, where both sophomore athletes set their personal records. Sidness Narerebout jumped 11.43 meters and Marshall Ransumssen jumped 12.99 meters.
The men’s side continued their winning with Franz and senior Zach Meyer. Franz scored a 16.15-meter throw on the shot put and Meyer finished with a time of 8.17 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.
USU had three different male athletes set their personal records in the 3000, the one mile and the high jump. Freshmen Logan Garnica won the 3000 with a time of 8 minutes, 39.29 seconds and Steward Brown won the one mile with a time of 4:16.88. Junior Kelton Chenworth scored a 2.04 meter for the high jump, while also clinching first place on the long jump for the Aggies.
Freshman Logan Hammer added to USU’s accolades, as he placed first in the men’s pole vault. Hammer was honored as the Mountain West Freshman of the week, after his performance at the Aggie’s last meet. In the men’s pole vault, Hammer scored a 5.00 meters, almost tying his personal record, and third-best overall score in USU history, of 5.05 meters.
Hammer felt that a big part of his success at Saturday’s meet was being able to be at home.
“I was able to have family, I was able to have friends,” Hammer said, “just having that support team is a huge confidence booster for me.”
The men’s success did not stop there, as sophomore Wyatt Evans and senior Zach Bell competed for their first time in events. Evan competed in the 800 and won with a time of 1:52.58, while Bell won in the 600 with a time of 1:24.31.
The women won the 600, 800 and mile races with performances from sophomores Olivia Smith and Mattalyn Geddes, and junior Hannah Davidson. In the 600, Smith ran a 1:35.29. Geddes and Davison both set personal records with Geddes running 2:14.72 in the 800 and Davidson running a 5:02.21 in the mile.
Junior Abbey Bryant blew out her previous personal record of 8.71 seconds on the 60-meter hurdles, with a new time of 8.60.
“I’ve been doing a lot of middle-of-the-race hurdle work, and focusing on a quicker turnover between hurdles,” Abbey said, “and in the weight room a lot of strength and power to get that block start.”
Ingebritsen is proud of the way his team performed and believes the success they had with many athletes placing first or setting new personal records, sets them to be successful for their next meets.
The Aggies will be on the road next week at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Husky Classic in Seattle.
Featured image by Paige Johnson.