Track team competes at UCLA, Utah
The Utah State track team split this weekend and sent most of its athletes to UCLA Invitational and a handful of athletes to compete in the Utah Classic, hosted by University of Utah.
The Aggie athletes that went to the Utah Classic competed on Saturday. Junior Kandace Shoell finished in ninth place in the 100m, with a time of 12.80. Freshman Kelsey Keller finished in sixth place in the long jump, with a distance of 4.85m, and sophomore Wendy Madsen finished in eighth place in the javelin throw, with a distance of 31.23m. The men’s 4x400m relay team finished in third, with a time of 3:30.13. Sophomore Mercer Owen finished fifth in the 800m with a time of 1:57.17. Junior Nate Lloyd finished second in the 5000m race, with a time of 16.35.04. Freshman Eric Follett placed second in the high jump, with a height of 1.95m, and junior Alex DuPlesis finished second in the javelin throw, with a distance of 56.80m.
The UCLA Invitational was a three-day meet, with the action beginning Thursday morning and ending on Saturday afternoon. On Thursday, the Aggies competed in the hammer throw and started both the men’s and women’s multi events. Junior lady Aggie Lindsey Spencer took second in the hammer invite, with a distance of 53.69m. Additionally, sophomore Spela Hus placed sixth in the hammer open, throwing for a distance 47.07m. The Aggie men also did well in the hammer throw, with freshman Spencer Hall throwing for a distance of 46.84m, placing seventh in the hammer invite, and sophomore Daniel Cruz, who threw for a distance of 48.72m, pulled off a first-place win in the hammer open event.
The next day came with many high place finishes for both Aggie teams. Senior Elaine Connolly competed in the 800m open and placed second in a close meet with a time of 2:12.74, edging out third-place Samantha Diaz from Nevada, who had a time of 2:12.75. Freshman Jessie Chugg placed fourth in the 1500m open, with a time 4:37.58. In the women’s 5000m invite, sophomore Kim Quinn placed third, with a time of 17:17.39.
The USU women’s team had many athletes finish well in the 3000 Meter Steeplechase Invite. Junior Erin Stratton placed second with a time of 10:41.83. Junior Alicia Holt finished with a time of 10:59.95, placing fourth. Freshman teammates Marissa Floodman and Stephanie Burt finished close together in sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of 11:12.26 and 11:12.36. Sophomore Ruth Hilton finished in ninth, with a time of 11:23.42.
Competing in the heptathlon for the women’s team was Junior Camille Fehlberg. She showed strong on Friday, finishing fourth in the heptathlon javelin, with a distance of 34.89m, and finished first in the heptathlon 800m, with a time of 2:22.12. She had a final placing of fifth, with a score of 4308.
In the field events, senior Shannon Prince placed second in the open shot put, with a distance of 13.85m. Spencer finished in fifth place, with a distance of 13.13m. Spencer also competed in the invite hammer throw and finished second with a distance of 53.69m.
For the USU men’s team, junior Armahd Lewis and freshman Matt Maughan finished second and fifth, respectively, in the 100m open, with times of 10.73 and 10.81. Lewis also finished fifth in the 200m open, with a time of 21.83. Senior Dylan Nielson won the 110m open hurdles, with a time of 14.82. Senior Jason Holt had a first place finish in the open 800m event, with a time of 1:53.65. Freshman Briton Page finished third in the same event, with a time of 1:53.86. In the men’s 3000m steeplechase, freshman Daniel Howell finished fourth with a time of 9:10.79, and sophomore teammate Steve Atkinson finished fifth with a time of 9:23.93.
Competing in the decathlon for the men’s team was junior Phillip Noble and sophomore Jon Goble. Goble did well in the decathlon discus event, finishing fourth in that event with a distance of 37.25m, and in the decathlon high jump, where he finished fourth with a height of 1.80m. Noble finished first in the decathlon 100m, with a time of 11.30, second in the decathlon 400m, with a time of 50.38, first in the decathlon pole vault, with a height of 4.70m and second in the decathlon 1500m, with a time of 4:30.23. Noble had a final score of 6526, which placed him third, and teammate Goble scored 6165, which place him sixth overall.
In the field events for the men’s team on Friday, sophomore John Johnson placed third in the open pole vault, with a height of 4.76m. Junior Max Hansen finished fifth in the same event, with a height of 4.61m. Senior Casey Parker finished third in the open high jump, with a height of 2.01m. Sophomore Daniel Cruz had a pair of third-place finishes, the first coming from open shot put, where he threw for a distance of 15.15m. He also place third in the open discus, with a distance of 48.17m.
Utah State concluded action at UCLA on Saturday. For the Aggie women, Spencer finished third in the discus invite, with a distance of 50.81m. In the invite high jump, freshman Bri Campbell finished sixth with a height of 1.65m. Sophomore Sonia Grabowska place seventh in the invite pole vault, with a height of 3.67m, and sophomore Spela Hus finished sixth in the invite shot put, with a distance of 13.45m.
For the men’s team, junior Mike Pyrtle finished in third place in the 100m invite, with a time of 10.54. Senior Nick Karren finished in first place in the 400m hurdle invite, with a time of 51.30. Karren also finished sixth in t the 110m hurdles, with a time of 14.27. Junior Clint Silcock placed fourth in the invite high jump, with a height of 2.11m, and sophomore Joe Canavan finished fourth in the invite shot put, throwing for a distance of 16.65m.
The Aggie track team will compete next at home, where it will host the Mark Faldmo Invitational on Saturday.
– t.g.s@aggiemail.usu.edu