Ags improve on last year’s track standings at BWC meet

IRVINE, Calif. — Utah State’s women finished fourth and the men placed fifth as both squads improved on their last year’s Big West Conference Championship finishes from a year ago. In 2004 the women were sixth and the men placed seventh at the league championships.

For the meet, the Aggies crowned two individual champions in David Danley in the 10,000 (30:35.25) and Tiffany Strickland in the steeplechase (10:30.60), while USU also had its men’s 4×100 relay team claim a title (40.58).

USU also had seven runners-up in individual events, including freshman thrower Zack Lloyd, who finished second in both the discus (176-07) and shot put (62-02.25). Oher runner-up placings on Saturday included Justin Wickard in the 110 hurdles (14.24), Trever Ball in the 5,000 (14:35.92) on the men’s side and Amber Judd in the 110 hurdles (14.05) and Katie Thatcher in the 400 hurdles (60.52) on the women’s side. On Friday Stacie Lifferth was runner-up to teammate Strickland in the steeplechase (10:31.95)

Cal State Northridge claimed the men’s title with 142.50 points to outdistance runner-up Cal Poly, which had 135 points. UC Santa Barbara had 112.50, Idaho 103 and Utah State 100 to round out the top five. On the women’s side UCSB scored 179 points to beat out CS Northrdige (156), Long Beach State (138), Utah State (98) and Cal Poly (91.50).

The Aggies suffered four injuries that kept people out of events as sprinters Rod McNeal and DJ Smith were injured in the 100, but finished the race. They did not participate in the 200. In addition, Dustin Vetica was scratched from the 400 hurdles and Christian Lee did not pole vault.

“Both Rod and DJ pulled up in the 100, but were able to finish the race,” said USU head coach Gregg Gensel. “They had run absolutely great in the 4×100 relay that we won, but they couldn’t run the 200. Then with Dustin and Christian not able to compete, it really hurt us. It could have been a different story if we had all four of them. We are disappointed on the men’s side because we didn’t want to leave the conference like that, but I am proud of the way our people battled even with those injuries. We were still able to improve on last year’s finish and we are happy with that.”

USU’s women performed well in the 400 hurdles as in addition to Thatcher’s runner up finish, Amber Judd was fourth at 61.95 and Emily Hillam was seventh at 63.32.

“The women did as well as they possibly could,” Gensel said.

In addition to Ball’s runner-up finish in the men’s 5,000, teammate Mike Nielson capped his great Aggie career by placing fifth in that event (14.42.86) and fifth in the 1,500 (3:48.74).

USU’s next action will come at the NCAA Regionals at Eugene, Ore. May 27-28.

Big West Track and Field ChampionshipsIrvine, Calif.

Final Team Results

Men1. CS Northridge 142.502. Cal Poly 1353. UC Santa Barbara 112.504. Idaho 1035. UTAH STATE 1006. Long Beach State 87.507. UC Irvine 878. UC Riverside 23.509. CS Fullerton 23

Women1. UC Santa Barbara 1792. CS Northridge 1563. Long Beach State 1384. UTAH STATE 985. Cal Poly 91.506. UC Riverside 547. Idaho 538. CS Fullerton 329. UC Irvine 16.50

Men’s Results (Saturday)100 – 3. Rod McNeal, 10.81, 6. DJ Smith, 10.89100 Hurdles – 2. Justin Wickard, 14.24200 – – Rod McNeal, Scratch, – DJ Smith, Scratch400 Hurdles – 5. Scott Bell, 54.01, 7. Brad Martin, 57.10, – Dustin Vetica, Scratch1,500 – 5. Mike Nielson, 3:48.74, 11. Ben Kessen, 3:59.865,000 – 2. Trever Ball, 14:35.92, 5. Mike Nielson, 14:42.86, 13. David Danley, 15:04.32, 20. Clark Bryner, 15:14.32, 27. Steve Strickland, 15:28.98, 28. Jason Holt, 15:36.144×100 Relay – 1. Utah State, 40.584×400 Relay – 7. Utah State, 3:19.58Hammer – 7. Kevin Liu, 176-01High Jump – 10. Matt Price, 6-06.75, 13. John Strang, 6-04.75Discus – 2. Zack Lloyd, 176-07, 11. Kevin Liu, 151-10

Women’s Results (Saturday)110 Hurdles – 2. Amber Judd, 14.05, 7. Carrie Yost, 14.97400 – 6. Cachet Webb, 57.17400 Hurdles – 2. Katie Thatcher, 60.52, 4. Amber Judd, 61.95, 7. Emily Hillam, 63.32800 – 3. Jill Steele, 2:09.571,500 – 6. Amy Egan, 4:26.41, 9. Sarah Dimick, 4:33.025,000 – 5. Lida Ripplinger, 17:13.02, 13. Rebecca Bostwick, 18:08.15, 18. Amy Egan, 18:19.95, 20. Caroline Berry, 18:33.68, – Stacie Lifferth, Scratch, – Tiffany Strickland, Scratch4x100 Relay – 5. Utah State, 47.794×400 Relay – 6. Utah State, 3:47.16Javelin – 11. Dayna Barrett, 107-09Pole Vault – 3. Alana Geisler, 11-11.75, 5. Kat Duhadway, 11-05.75, 9. Kaylene Gastaldi, 10-11.75

Men’s Results (Friday)Steeplechase – 4. Steve Strickland, 9:01.6810,000 – 1. David Danley, 30:35.225, 6. Clark Bryner, 31:11.48, 14. Jason Holt, 32:25.6910. Caron Campbell, 9:32.60Javelin – 5. Isaac Rush, 180-01Long Jump – 5. Justin Wickard, 24-00.25Shot Put – 2. Zack Lloyd, 62-02.25, 13. Kevin Liu, 50-02.75

Women’s Results (Friday)Steeplechase – 1. Tiffany Strickland, 10:30.60, 2. Stacie Lifferth, 10:31.95, 5. Ashley Johnson, 10:53.8910,000 – 7. Rebekah Meier, 37:54.02High Jump – 8. Crystal Thiselle, 5-05, 9. Lacy Schroeder, 5-05, 9. Carrie Yost, 5-05, 13. Katrina Smart, 5-03, 15. Chalise Farr, 5-01

Men’s Results (Thursday)Decathlon – 4. Reese Hulbert, 6417 points, 10. Kenny Murdock, 5539

Women’s Results (Thursday)Heptathlon – 3. Carrie Yost, 4885 points, 4. Lacy Schroeder, 4807, 5. Dayna Barrett, 4657