WAC?™S DANDY DOZEN ?“ Trackwire.com features 12 WAC track and field stars in this weeks Dandy Dozen rankings. Idaho?™s Russ Winger is double dipping, ranking in the top 12 in both the shot put and discus. Boise State?™s Mattias Jons is fourth in the hammer. Fellow Broncos, Keron Francis and Nate Putnam, are sixth and 11th, respectively in the javelin. For the women, Idaho?™s Dee Olsen ranks third in the 1,500 meters, while the Louisiana Tech?™s 4x400-meter relay squad sits 12th. Fresno State has a pair of Bulldogs ranked in the javelin with Mallory Webb coming in at number eight and Katie Richardson earning 12th.
Click here for a .pdf version of the Weekly Track and Field Notes.XBOX LIVE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK ?“ Boise State?™s Nate Putnam and Idaho?™s Melinda Owen have been named the Xbox Live Western Athletic Conference men?™s and women?™s Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively.
Putnam, a sophomore from Concord, N.H., won the javelin with a personal-best throw of 224-3 (68.35m), which improves his NCAA West Regional qualifying mark. Putnam?™s mark ranks as the eighth-best collegiate throw in the country this season, and fifth in the west region.
Owen, a sophomore from Polson, Mont., had a dominating day in the pole vault at the Pelluer Invitational. Owen set a meet, stadium and school record, clearing 12-9.50. The vault is also a NCAA West Regional qualifying mark. She broke her own school-record mark of 12-4 set in 2004.
Other Men Nominated: Jason Morgan, Louisiana Tech and Scott Bell, Utah State.
Other Women Nominated: Eleni Kafourou, Boise State; Brenda-Grace Hunt, Louisiana Tech; Caira Hane, Nevada; Erin Streater, New Mexico State and Caroline Berry, Utah State.
WAC TOP PERFORMANCESs?“ Click on the following link for the WAC's 2006 Top Performers.
TRACKWIRE NATIONAL RANKINGS ?“ Click on the following links for the men and women's Trackwire and Dandy Dozen Rankings.
Trackwire RankingsDandy Dozen -
Women |
MenNCAA Qualifiers -
Women |
MenWAC CHAMPIONSHIP TRAVELS TO THE ISLAND ?“ The 2006 edition of the WAC Championship travels to Honolulu and Cooke Field. The meet will be held Feb. 10-13 with the multi-events on May 10 and 11, and the preliminaries and finals on May 12 and 13. The Boise State men and Louisiana Tech women look for the season sweep as both won the indoor crowns. Louisiana Tech is back to defend its title, where departed member, UTEP, won on the men?™s side last season.
NCAA REGIONAL SITES ?“ There are four sites selected for the NCAA Regional Championships. Each site will host May 26-27, 2006. The following are the sites and information.
East Region
Host: North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro, N.C.
Web site: ncataggies.com
Mideast Region
Host: University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tenn.
Web site: utsports.com
West Region Host: Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah
Web site: byu.edu
Midwest Region
Host: University of Texas, Austin
Austin, Texas
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ?“ The 2006 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship returns to Sacramento, Calif., June 7-10, 2006. Sacramento State is the event?™s host.
Finals June 7-10, 2006
A.G. Spanos Sports Complex
Sacramento, Calif.
Hosts: Sacramento State and Sacramento Sports Commission
Ticket info: 916/566-6560
Web site: hornetsports.com
WAC ENTERS NEW ERA ?“ The WAC is a nine-team league with the additions of Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State following the departures of Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa. It is the third time in conference history that the WAC will be comprised of nine teams (1980-91 and 2000).