USU MEN WIN FIVE EVENTS TO CLAIM BIG WEST TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP, WOMEN FINISH FIFTH

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — Five individual titles, three of which came on the final day of the Big West Track and Field Championships, led the Utah State men to their second consecutive conference title here Saturday.

USU won the title by one point over host Cal State Northridge, as it scored 152.5 points in the four-day meet that came down to the final event. Going into the 4×400-meter relay, USU had to finish at least fourth to defeat Cal State Northridge in the team totals. Though CSN won the event, USU took fourth in the 4×400 and claimed the team title. The Aggies have now won four of the last six Big West Championships and seven of the last 10 dating to 1994.

USU’s women’s team finished fifth with 66 points, 11 points out of fourth place.

“We had a lot of people do a lot of really good things today for both the men and the women,” said head coach Gregg Gensel. “On the men’s side, it was a great experience, but it was emotionally up and down all day. It was an absolutely amazing finish.”

Senior Nick Seedall, who hadn’t run in more than a month, won the 400-meter hurdles Saturday with a time of 52.05, while sophomore teammate Justin Wickard finished second, :00.22 behind Seedall.

Josh Sides and Ryan Bruhn claimed the Aggies’ second and third field titles of the Championships. Sides threw 18.24 meters (59 feet, 10.25 inches) in the shot put, while Bruhn recorded a distance of 60.76 meters (199 feet, four inches) in the hammer throw. Bruhn’s personal best throw of 204 feet, 7.5 inches came at the BYU-Wells Fargo Invitational on May 2-3, while Sides threw 59 feet, 11 inches at USU’s Mark Faldmo Invitational April 19.

Friday, Steve Prescott won the 10,000-meters, while teammate Neil Warr claimed the javelin title.

Utah State claimed second, third and fourth places in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, as Wickard finished second (14.06), Joel Johnson was third (14.47) and Dustin Vetica took fourth (14.49).

On the women’s side, freshman thrower Kelli Burton finished second in both the shot put and the discus. She threw 15.41 meters (50 feet, 6.75 inches) in the shot and a personal best 49.83 meters (163 feet, six inches) in the discus. Burton also took seventh in the hammer throw (51.56 meters).

Senior Katie Farner finished third in the javelin throw with a toss of 43.03 meters (141 feet, two inches). On Thursday, she took fourth in the heptathlon with a final point total of 5078.

Idaho scored 213 points to win the women’s team title, easily outdistancing Cal State Northridge, which took second with 129 points. Cal Poly was third (122), and UC Irvine was fourth (77).

Utah State will send 13 men and five women to Palo Alto, Calif., May 30-31 to compete in the NCAA West Region Championships.

TEAM FINALSMEN1. Utah State 152.502. CS Northridge 151.503. Cal Poly 1434. Idaho 915. Long Beach State 816. UC Santa Barbara 777. CS Fullerton 618. UC Irvine 46.509. UC Riverside 13.50

WOMEN1. Idaho 2132. CS Northridge 1293. Cal Poly 1224. UC Irvine 775. Utah State 666. Long Beach State 647. UC Santa Barbara 638. UC Riverside 509. CS Fullerton 34

SATURDAY RESULTSMEN’S FINALSHammer- 1. Ryan Bruhn, 60.76m (199-04); 5. Josh Sides, 56.10m (184-01); 11. Kevin Liu, 48.65m (159-07)Triple Jump- 9. Lonnie Carter, 14.53m (47-08.00)Shot Put- 1. Josh Sides, 18.24m (59-10.25); 3. Mark Burton, 16.37 (53-08.50); 11. Colin Veldman, 15.00m (49-02.50); 17. Kevin Liu, 14.15m (46-05.25)High Jump- 3. Robert Crockett, 2.11m (6-11.00); 4. Matt Price, 2.02m (6-07.5).4×100 Relay- 8. 41.81 (Justin Wickard, Yance Fawcett, Dustin Vetica, Joel Johnson)1,500- Mitch Zundal, 3:53.07; 9. Mike Nielson, 3:55.03; 10. David Kunnas, 3:55.76.110-Hurdles- 2. Justin Wickard, 14.06; 3. Joel Johnson, 14.47; 4. Dustin Vetica, 14.49.400- 5. Danny Elggren, 48.03.800- 6. Craig Bown, 1:53.50.400-Hurdles- 1. Nick Seedall, 52.05; 2. Justin Wickard, 52.27; 6. Dustin Vetica, 52.79.5,000- 7. Mike Nielson, 14:46.99; 8. Mitch Zundel, 14:50.89; 15. Steve Prescott, 15:23.89; 19. Ben Wynn, 15:36.63; 20. Clark Bryner, 15:38.32; 23. David Danley, 15:45.85; 28. Trevor Ball, 16:19.58.4×400-Relay- 4. 3:15.39

WOMEN’S FINALSJavelin- 3. Katie Farner, 43.03m (141-02).Discus- 2. Kelli Burton, 49.83m (163-06); 5. Candice Workman, 47.15m (154-08); 14. Dia Matthews, 40.56m (133-01).Triple Jump- Dayna Barrett, foul.1,500- 8. Lida Clapier, 4:42.37.400-Hurdles- 7. Emily Hillam, 64.09.5,000- 9. Melanie Marek, 18:14.65; 10. Lida Clapier, 18:15.55; 11. Christi Howell, 18:16.99; 15. Carol Cabanillas, 18:38.26; 19. Karen Olsen, 19:04.64.

FRIDAY RESULTSMen’s Finals10,000- 1. Steve Prescott, 30:58.74; 5. David Danley, 31:27.69; 7. Clark Bryner, 31:40.46; 8. Ben Wynn, 32:01.24.3,000-Steeplechase – 10. Ryan Griffith, 9:32.72.Long Jump – 2. Justin Wickard, 7.37m (24-02.25); 8. Joel Johnson, 6.91m (22-08.00).Discus – 4 (tie). Josh Sides, 48.70m (159-09); 4 (tie). Mark Burton, 48.70 (159-09); 7. Colin Veldman, 48.17m (158-00); 9. Ryan Bruhn, 45.62m (149-08); 19. Nathan Poindexter, 42.20m (138.05); 21. Kevin Liu, 41.47m (136-01).Javelin – 1. Neil Warr, 68-42m (224-06); 6. Chase Taylor, 55.58m (182-04); 8. Ryan Bruhn, 54.85m (179-11); 11. Paul Walker, 49.65m (162-11).

Men’s Prelims100 – Joel Johnson, 11.03 (DNQ); David Causse, 11.11 (DNQ).200 – Yance Fawcett, 22.27 (DNQ).400 – Danny Elggren, 48.15 (Q).800 – Craig Bown, 1:52.01 (Q).1,500 – Mike Nielson, 3:52.88 (Q); David Kunnas, 3:53.51 (Q); Mitch Zundel, 3:54.32 (Q).110-Hurdles – Justin Wickard, 14.35 (Q); Dustin Vetica, 14.54 (Q); Joel Johnson, 14.55, (Q).400-Hurdles – Nick Seedall, 52.81 (Q); Danny Elgrren, 52.82 (Q); Dustin Vetica, 53.09 (Q); Justin Wickard, 53.50 (Q); Chase Judd, 55.15 (DNQ).

Women’s Finals10,000 – 4. Carol Cabanillas, 38:32.26; 7. Karen Olsen, 39:17.32.3,000-Steeplechase – 6. Melanie Marek, 11:06.33; 7. Tiffany Strickland, 11:06.35; 12. Emily Prestwich, 11:43.19.High Jump – 5 (tie). Chalise Withers, 1.65m (5-05.00); 7 (tie). Lacy Schroeder, 1.60m (5-03.00); 7 (tie). Katie Farner, 1.60m (5-03.00).Pole Vault – 2 (tie). Debra Barker, 3.76m (12-04.00); 6 (tie). Amy Davis, 3.51m (11-06.25); 6. (tie). Alana Geisler, 3.51m (11-06.25); 10 (tie). Tricia Jacobson, 3.21m (10-06.25); 10 (tie). Kaylene Gastaldim 3.21m (10-06.25).Shot Put – 7. Kelli Burton, 51.56m (169-02); 14. Candice Workman, 43.81 (143.09); 15. Dia Matthews, 43.59m (143-00).

Women’s Prelims100 – Kathleen Hobbs, 12.34 (DNQ).200 – Kathleen Hobbs, 25.78 (DNQ).400 – Jill Steele, 59.79 (DNQ).1,500 – Lida Clapier, 4:40.80 (Q); Christi Howell, 4:46.44 (DNQ).100 Hurdles – Emily Hillam, 63.53 (Q); Amber Hanson, 64.85 (DNQ).

KEY: Q – Qulified for finals; DNQ – Did not qualify for finals

THURSDAY RESULTSMenDecathlon7. Kenny Murdock, 5955.

WomenHeptathlon4. Katie Farner, 5078; 9. Amber McAllister, 4392; 10. Dayna Barrett, 4073.

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