‘Good, solid performance’
In the midst of cold and rain, the USU track team placed athletes in the top three in 24 of 34 events in front of a home crowd at the Mark Faldmo Open Saturday – USU’s only home outdoor track meet.
“We had some good solid performances today,” said USU head coach Gregg Gensel.
The Aggies did fare well, but not as well as Weber State University’s Charles Clinger. The Wildcat jumper broke a Maughan Track Stadium record with a jump of 7’6.50.”
all-American James Parker also had a great outing with the discus. He took second with a toss of 57.14 meters – one of the 10 best of his career -without any wind.
“For no wind, 187 feet is darn good,” Gensel said.
“I really felt good about my discus,” said Parker, who had been struggling in the event recently.
USU’s Amber Jensen had also been struggling in the 800 meters, but she had a “breakthrough” result Saturday, Gensel said. After trailing all but one of the 14 other runners at the halfway point, the sophomore took second place with a time of 2:12.42.
Most of the women Aggie runners also ruled the day. In the women’s 1,500-meter run, USU had four in the top five, led by Rebekah Thornley’s first-place 4:32.22. The Aggies also won the 100-meter dash (Kathleen Hobbs, 12:15) and the 200-meter dash (Sandra Reategui, 24:79). USU also took second in the 4X100-meter and 4X400-meter relays.
“The thing I wanted most out of this meet was for [the Aggies] to do well in front of the home crowd; compete their best,” Gensel said. “And they did that.”
While the cold weather helped the runners, it hurt the throwers because it’s hard to stay warm enough to feel your hands, said USU thrower Candice Workman.
Despite low scores, the freshman won both the shot put and the discus throw. Jessica Owen took second place in the hammer throw, and Katie Farner took third place in the javelin throw for the Aggies.
Likewise, Parker struggled in the hammer throw. Like Workman, he won the event, but was disappointed by his score.
“I felt tight,” he said. “I didn’t feel loose or relaxed.
In the shot put, Parker took second to teammate Tim Sparks, who posted a mark of 15.98 meters.
Parker said he was “playing around” with red-shirt teammate Josh Sides. Competing unattached to keep his red-shirt status, Sides challenged Parker to see if he could beat him with an unconventional throwing style.
“[I won] by an inch and a half, so he has to buy me dinner,” Parker said.
USU’s Brett Guymon won both the 110-meter (14:43) and 400-meter (50.70) hurdles. He also made up more than 20 feet in the final leg of the 4X400-meter relay on the leader to give USU the victory with a mark of 3:20.08.
The Aggie men also won the 4X100-meter relay, but did not finish any better than third-place in the other races.
Utah State will now travel to Eugene, Ore., to compete in the Oregon Invite Saturday. The track season lasts through the month of May.