USU off to Big West Conference Track Championships

Utah State’s track and field teams will travel to Irvine, Calif., this week to compete in the 2005 Big West Conference Track and Field Championships hosted by UC Irvine on May 11-14.

USU’s men’s team finished seventh at last year’s championships, while the women placed sixth.

The meet begins on Wednesday and Thursday with the heptathlon and decathlon events as the men will compete in 10 events and the women in seven during the two days.

The rest of the meet will begin on Friday afternoon and conclude on Saturday.

Utah State returns three individuals who look to improve on second-place finishes at last year’s Big West Championships and two others who hope to improve on third-place finishes.

On the men’s side, junior Trever Ball finished second in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:38.58, while senior David Danley was second in the 10,000 meters with a time of 30:48.11.

On the women’s side, junior Alana Geisler placed second in the pole vault with a height of 11-09.75, and sophomore Katie Thatcher placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.15, while sophomore Carrie Bitton-Yost was third in the heptathlon with 4,722 points.

“One thing you can count on every year in the Big West Conference is Cal State Northridge, Idaho, Cal Poly and Utah State all having good teams,” said USU head coach Gregg Gensel.

“This year we are as healthy as we’re going to be and we don’t have any season-ending injuries like we did last season.

As long as we take care of business and run like we have been we have a shot at doing well.

Eleven Aggie men have recorded times or marks this year that rank among the top five in the Big West.

Senior Mike Nielson has the best time in the 10,000 meters (29.06.11) and the second-best time in the 5,000 meters (13:56.76), while freshman Zack Lloyd has the best mark in the shot put (60-10.75) and the second-best mark in the discus (170-06.75).

Junior Justin Wickard has the fastest time in the 110-meter hurdles (14.05), while junior Dustin Vetica has the fastest time in the 400-meter hurdles (51.20).

Junior Rod McNeal owns the second-best times in both the 100 (10.50) and 200-meters (21.07), while senior Christian Lee has the second-best height in the pole vault (16-06.75).

Other Aggie men who rank among the top-five in the conference include sophomore DJ Smith who is third in the 100-meters (10.60), Danley who is third in the 10,000 meters (29:51.49), junior Clark Bryner who is fifth in the 10,000 meters (30:15.19), sophomore Scott Bell who is fifth in the 400-meter hurdles (53.34), and freshman Steve Strickland who is fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:10.67).

Utah State also has 11 Aggie women who have recorded times or marks that rank among the top five in the Big West this year, led by senior Lida Ripplinger who has the fastest time in the 10,000 meters (36:03.04) and the fourth-fastest time in the 5,000 meters (16:46.76).

Junior Tiffany Strickland owns the best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:29.74), while Thatcher has the best time in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.43).

Sophomore Amber Judd has the second-best time in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.55) and the fourth-best time in the 100-meter hurdles (14.00), while freshman Stacie Lifferth has the second-best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:35.02).

Other Aggie women who rank among the top-five in the conference include sophomore Carrie Bitton-Yost who is third in the heptathlon (4,892) and fifth in the high jump (5-08.75), sophomore Amy Egan who is fifth in both the 800 (2:10.10) and the 1,500-meters (4:25.70), junior Jill Steele who is fourth in the 800-meters (2:09.06), junior Lacey Schroeder who is fourth in the heptathlon, senior Dayna Barrett who is fifth in the heptathlon (4,657), and Geisler who is fifth in the pole vault (11-11.75).

Utah State’s men’s teams have won seven of the last 11 Big West Conference outdoor titles, including 1994, ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’02 and ’03.

USU’s women’s teams won seven straight league titles from 1993-99, and had two runner-up finishes in 2000 and ’01.