Tracksters fare well at WAC Championships
The Aggies fared well in the three days of competition for the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho, at Boise State’s Jackson Indoor Track facility.
The USU men’s team finished in second place with 145.5 team points, just behind Boise State which scored 150 points. The competition was tough between the Aggies and BSU Idaho took third place with 121.5. The point system for the men’s championship starts at 10 points for a first-place finish, eight for second, six for third, four for fourth, two for fifth and one point for a sixth-place finish.
The women’s group finished in fourth place with 92.5 points, Boise finished in third with 112, Idaho second with 114 and Louisiana Tech first with 120. The win for Louisiana Tech is their fourth in the past five years and second in a row. The women’s point system is slightly different, awarding 10 points for a first-place finish, eight for second, six for third, five for fourth, four for fifth, three for sixth, two for seventh and one point for an eighth-place finish.
Senior John Strang successfully defended his title of best male indoor track and field athlete in the WAC by winning the heptathlon, a seven-part event consisting of the long jump, high jump, pole vault, 1,000m, shot put, 60-meter race and 60-meter hurdles, spanned over two days. Strang’s score of 5,522 passes the current WAC record of 5,506 points, which Strang set in last year’s championships.
During the first day of the heptathalon Strang finished first in the high jump, clearing 6’11”, first in the long jump, 23’9.50″, seventh in the shot put and second in the 60m run. On the second day, he finished third in the 1,000m, second in the pole vault and first in the 60m hurdles. This win marks Strang’s fourth straight multi-event title, including his 2007 and 2008 outdoor decathlon titles.
“John is just a great competitor, there’s just no question about it,” said long-time Aggie track coach Gregg Gensel. “He wanted to win that and he went out and did. John wanted to better his mark to see if he can get into nationals and I think his score today did that. He just had a great two days.”
Junior Erin Stratton won two titles for the women’s team, taking first place in the mile at 4:55.42 and finishing with a personal best and sixth best in school history time of 10:07.55 in the 3,000m. After the meet, Gensel said Stratton is a great competitor and enough good things can’t be said about her.
In the same events on the men’s side, sophomore Chio Lopez finished the mile in the first-place time of 4:12.73, a personal best and a time good enough for ninth all-time in school history. In the 3,000m Lopez crossed the line in 8:34.32, just 3.77 behind first-place finisher Sawyer Bosch from Boise State. Senior Ben Kessen, freshman Daniel Howell and sophomore Hunter Nelson also brought in points for the Aggies during the 3,000m finishing fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the women’s 5,000m freshman Ruth Hilton took third place, followed closely by teammate junior Kim Quinn who took fourth. For the men’s 5,000m, junior Steve Strickland edged out Boise State’s Bosch by eight-tenths of a second to earn the title, sophomore Brian McKenna came in fifth and teammate Hunter Nelson finished seventh.
Both men’s and women’s distance relay teams finished ahead of their competition. The men’s team consisted of Kessen, Lopez, James Alred and Keith Williams; the women’s, Allison Taylor, Jessie Chugg, Heidi Hopkins and Stratton.
“We’re one of the best distance schools in the conference,” Gensel said, “and I think we solidified that some more today by performing as well as we did in the distance events.”
Clint Silcock, sophomore from Salmon, Idaho, continued his dominance in the high jump, getting first place by clearing 7’1″, a new personal best and third best in USU history. Also in the high jump Strang took third place, jumping 6’8.75″.
Dylon Nielson set a personal record of his own this weekend finishing the 60m hurdles in first place at 8.03, third fastest in school history. Williams finished third in the same event tying him with the seventh fastest time in school history, 8.17.
Allred had a personal best in the 800m finishing in second place with 1:53.75. Karren won the 400m at 47.56 and Brandon Waller finished sixth with 49.15.
Freshman Bryce Hall set a new PR mark in the weight throw of 57’2.75″ and he finished in seventh place. The top weight thrower for the women was Krista Larson who finished in third place with a 58’10.75″ throw. Spela Hus, freshman from Slovenia, threw the shot put 45’1″ putting her in sixth place. Top male shot putter for the Aggies was Bryce Hall, whose best throw of the day was 52’4.5″, putting him in fifth place.
In the women’s pentathlon, a five-event competition, sophomore Sonia Grabowska finished with 3,249 points for seventh place.
Behind Strang in the heptathlon, Jon Goble finished in fourth with 4,902 points.
Freshman John Johnson was USU’s top pole vaulter on the weekend clearing 15’5″. Sophomore Max Hanson placed fifth and senior Palmer Hawkins came in sixth.
Blake Hadfield had a season-best 49’1.5″ in the triple jump taking fourth place. Following Hadfield was Strang who took fifth with 44’4″.
“We also got great performances across the board from our triple jumpers, our pole vaulters – everyone just did a great job,” Gensel said. “We did everything humanly possible health-wise to perform, but Boise State just did a better job on the men’s side and on the women’s side; Idaho did a great job, too. I’m really excited and proud of everyone’s performance and their efforts.”
The USU athletes that qualified for nationals will head to Texas A&M for the meet which takes place March 12-14.
–c.h.j@aggiemail.usu.edu