United Athletic Conference

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Others Nominated
Men
Rices Ben Wiggins had a busy weekend, taking fifth in the 110m hurdles (14.69), second in the 400m hurdles (52.19), ninth in the 200m (21.35) and sixth in the 4x400m relay. Billy Threets of Louisiana Tech came in first in the 400m hurdles with a time of 51.73, the best time in the WAC this season. Chris Berrian of Fresno State earned a first and second place finish in the 200 and 400 meters, clocking personal-best times of 21.70 and 49.97 respectively.

Women
Shana Robinson of Tulsa took first in both the 100m and 200m recording times of 11.56, the fastest this season in the WAC, and 24.14, respectively. Beth Hinshaw of Rice posted a personal-best pole vault of 12-3 in a second-place effort at the Texas A&M Invitational. Yemi Fagbamila of UTEP won the 400m with a provisional time of 53.05, which is the fifth best in the NCAA this season. She also led off the 4x400m relay team which provisionally qualified for the NCAAs with a time of 3:37.74. Tiffany Simon of Fresno State won both the 200 and 400 meters by clocking times of 25.11 in the 200 and a personal-best 57.11 in the 400m. Nevadas Jamila Carter won the 100m in a time of 12.18, was a member of the 4x100m who took first in 46.70 and placed second in the 200m with a time of 24.65.

Notes From the Track
Busy as a Bulldog
Fresno State Junior Crystal Simmons has been competing in five events at every meet. Simmons competes in three jumping events, the triple jump, long jump and high jump. She has the third best jump in the WAC in the high jump, clearing 5-6. She leads the conference, jumping 20-5 1/2 in the long jump and 42-2 3/4 in the triple. She also competes in the 110m hurdles, where she owns the third-best time in the confence of 14.09. Simmons is part of the Fresno State 4x100m relay team, whose fastest time this season is 45.41, .41 behind UTEPs conference leading time. She is also sixth in the conference in the 200m with a time of 24.58.

Meets and Results
Stanislaus Invitational
Fresno State competed in the 2002 Stanislaus Open this past weekend. Katie Christianson led the way for the Bulldogs setting two personal bests. Christianson cleared 5-0 in the high jump and jumped 17-9 1/2 in the lomg jump helping her land two first-place finshes. Tiffany Simon also pulled in two golds, winning the 400m in a personal-best time of 57.11 and the 200m in 25.11. On the mens side for the Bulldogs, Mike Guidry improved on his discus throw by seven feet, throwing it 184-1. Freshman Russell Weaver cleared a WAC leading 16-0 in the pole vault, a vault almost five inches higher than his best and the next highest WAC member.

Jace Lacoste Invitational
Both the Louisiana Tech men and women earned seventh-place finishes at the Jace Lacoste Invitational, held on the campus of Mississippi State. For the men, the Bulldogs were led by Billy Threets who finished first in the 400m hurdles, with a WAC top time of 51.73. For the women Melissa Gibbons continues to be their strong hold. Gibbons won the shot put (15.26m), the discus (51.81m) and the javelin (40.70m) accounting for 30 of the Techsters 80 total points. All three throws are NCAA provisional qualifying distances.

UC Berkley Invitational
Nevada had three first-place finshers at the Brutus Hamilton Memorial Invitational at Edwards Stadium. Jamilia Carter won the 100m in a time of 12.18. Carter was also a member of the 4x100m relay team along with Janita Jones, Tara Maves and Allison Sewell who won the event in 46.70. Shario Marshall won the javelin with a toss of 143-4.

Texas A&M Invitational
Rice was once again led by Ryan Harlan, who improved upon his WAC leading 110m hurdles time, finishing first at the Texas A&M Invitational in a time of 14.00. Ben Wiggins finished second in the 400m hurdles, crossing at 52.19, while teammate Tim Oberg grabbed second in the 3,000m steeplechase. On the womens side, Allison Beckford again won the 400m, this time in a time of 53.22. Tanya Wright won the 800m in a WAC-best time of 2:07.69.

UTEP Invitational
Boise State attended the ShoeSpring/AudioVox UTEP Track and Field Invitaional. Host UTEP had six top finishers at the event, while Boise State landed three. For the Miners, Dirty Dozen regular Taiwo Ajibade won the 100m, edging Elite Eight member Jarmiene Holloway for first in a time of 10.18 to 10.19. Aaron Egbele won the 200m in a time of 20.74, the fourth fastest time in the NCAA this season. In the high jump, Henderson Dottin broke the Barbados national record, clearing 7-3 1/4 (2.22m). In the 800m, Jason Atkins won in a time of 1:56.52, and Dirk de Heer won the 1,500m in 3:54.65. For the women, Yemi Fagbamila ran a personal-best 53.05 in the 400m, a provisional qualifying time. Jose van der Veen took the title in the 800m, crossing at 2:13.22. For Boise State, Mark Hoxmeier won the discus with a throw of 192-8, and took second in the shot put with a distance of 62-2 1/2, which is both a personal best and the second best throw in Bronco history. Justin St. Clair won javelin with a heave of 234-6, clearing the NCAA provisional mark. Stellan Kjellander broke the Bronco record for the third straight meet with a personal best of 201-10 to place third in the hammer throw. For the women, Trina Rogers won the javelin with a personal-best throw of 146-1.