FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Jan. 19-25) -
Boise State’s Nerisha Phillip and Idaho’s Mykael Bothum have been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, Jan. 18-25.
Phillip, a senior from St. Andrews, Granada (St. Davids Secondary HS), won the 200 and 400-meter dashes, and ran the opening leg of Boise State’s winning 4x400-meter relay team at the Blue and Orange Classic last weekend. Her winning time at 200 meters was 24.93, while her first-place time in the 400-meter dash was 46.38, both conference bests. In the 4x400 ?meter relay, Phillip helped the Bronco team to a first-place time of 3:49.52.
Bothum, a junior from Hermiston, Ore. (Hermiston HS), won the shot put event at the Washington State Open for the second-straight season with a school-record throw of 51-7.25 (15.73 m). She beat her own previous school record of 50-4 by more than a foot and broke the WSU Open meet record of 49-9.75. For the day, she finished with four throws over 50 feet, including three straight beyond 51 feet. Bothum’s record-setting throw is currently ninth-best in the NCAA and the No. 1 throw in the WAC.
Other track nominees included: Louisiana Tech’s Chasidee Lewis-Baker, Utah State’s Erin Stratton, Fresno State’s Roxanne Sellick, New Mexico State’s Brittany Hurtado and Nevada’s Amanda Moreno.
Other field nominees included: Boise State’s Eleni Kafourou, Louisiana Tech’s Quatisha Williams, Fresno State’s Grace Wiesmann, Utah State’s Krista Larson and New Mexico State’s Jordan Veney.
MALE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (Jan. 19-25) -
Boise State’s Per Strandquist and Idaho’s Matt Wauters have been named Western Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Jan. 19-25.
Strandquist, a sophomore from Akarp, Sweden (Malmo Latinskola HS), won the 60 and 200-meter dashes in his first intercollegiate track meet at the Blue and Orange Classic last weekend. His winning time at 60-meters was 6.90, the best time in the WAC so far this season. He also ran a 21.85 in the 200-meter dash, good for the third-best time in the conference.
Wauters, a senior from Bainbridge, Wash. (Bainbridge HS), opened his season on Friday with an NCAA provisional mark in the weight throw, as he won the competition with a toss of 65-4.75 (19.92 m). The mark is the eighth in the NCAA and the second in the WAC so far. The win in the event gave Wauters his fifth consecutive victory at the meet.
Other track nominees included: Utah State’s Jason Holt and Louisiana Tech’s Kinsey Dinnel.
Other field nominees included: Utah State’s Clint Silcock, Louisiana Tech’s Larry Jones and Boise State’s Zacharias Arnos.
WARDHAUGH THROWS NCAA BEST - Simon Wardhaugh, a senior from Bracken Ridge, Australia (University of Queensland), Wardhaugh won the 35-pound weight throw at the Jacksons Open in Nampa, Idaho with a throw of 73-00.0 (22.25 meters). The mark set a new Boise State record previously held by Mattias Jons (72-4.50). The throw also stands as an automatic qualifying mark to the NCAA National Indoor Championships and is currently stands as the best throw in the nation.
WASHINGTON BOUND - Four Western Athletic Conference teams will be competing in the state of Washington this weekend. Utah State, New Mexico State and Hawai?i will travel to Seattle to compete in the Washington Invitational while Idaho makes a short trip to Pullman to try its luck at the Cougar Indoor.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO BOISE ? The 2009 edition of the WAC Championship returns to Idaho Sports Center and Jacksons Track in Nampa, Idaho. The meet will be held Feb. 26-28.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP ? The 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship returns to College Station, Texas, March 13-14. Texas A&M University is hosting the event.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
Broncos came away with 14 first place finishes at the Blue & Orange Classic last weekend ... two BSU athletes garnered WAC Track Athletes of the Week awards ... senior sprinter Nerisha Phillip won the 200 and 400-meter dashes, and ran the opening leg of Boise State’s winning 4x400-meter relay team at the meet, while Per Strandquist thrived on the men’s side with two first-place finishes in the 60 and 200-meter dashes ... Eleni Kafourou placed first in the women’s long and triple jumps as the senior won the long jump with a mark of 20-3.75 (6.19m), and the triple jump with a leap of 42-2.25 (12.86m) ... along with winning all the men’s sprint events, the Broncos showed their depth in the shorter distances as Marlon Douglas, Eric Capelle and Eetu Viitala finished second, third and fourth behind Strandquist in the 60-meter dash, with Douglas and Capelle again placing second and third behind Strandquist at 200 meters ... the team boasts conference-bests in 11 events so far this year ... this week, Boise State hosts the Bronco Invitational at Jacksons Track this Friday and Saturday.
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Bulldogs picked up wins over all six teams, including USC, Cal State LA and Cal Poly, in the dual face-offs at the third annual Run for the Dream on Jan. 19 ... senior Grace Wiesmann (Van Nuys, Calif.) won the weight throw with a personal best toss of 58-3 (17.76m) ... Wiesmann broke her former mark by four feet on her second throw of the day ... fellow senior Vanessa Sautebin (Kloten, Zurcich, Switzerland) finished on top of the 55-meter hurdle finals, capturing a first place finish in a tie with Cal State Dominguez Hills’ Channel Parker, the two crossed at exactly 8.26 seconds apiece ... Kayla Xavier won Fresno State’s first event of the day, she earned a victory in the shot put with her final throw, marking 45 feet, 7 inches (13.89 m), a mark good for sixth-best in the WAC ... junior Roxanne Sellick ran for the second-best 1 mile time in the conference, 5:00.35 ... the Bulldogs next compete at the New Mexico Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. on Feb. 7.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
The Rainbow Wahine opened the 2009 indoor season by competing at the Lumberjack Invitational hosted by the University of Northern Arizona ... UH’s first competition of the season was highlighted by a number of Top-10 finishes, among the highlights included a 2-3-4 finish in the high jump led by senior Emily Sheppard’s leap of 5-9.75 (1.77m) ... freshman Sarah Saddleton, competing in her first collegiate event, placed third at 5-7.75 (1.72m) followed by Annett Wichmann’s fourth place showing (5-5.75/1.67m) ... Wichmann also placed third in the shot put with a heave of 44-8.75 (13.63m) ... a pair of Rainbow Wahine posted Top 10 finishes in the weight throw ... Sophomore Anika Borden took third with a throw of 54-4 (16.56m) ... junior Jessica Custance tied for second in the pole vault after clearing 12-5.5 (3.80m) ... freshman Jaimilee Jimenez set a new UH record in 60-meter prelims with a time of 7.93 seconds to advance to the finals, which she finished 15th at 7.99 seconds ... this weekend, the team competes at the Washington Invitational.
Idaho Vandals
The Vandals compiled three NCAA provisional qualifying marks, one school record and one meet record at the WSU Open last week ... in addition to senior Matt Wauters hitting a provisional mark in the 35-pound weight throw on Friday, seniors Mykael Bothum and KC Dahlgren hit qualifying marks on Saturday for the women ... Dahlgren won the pole vault with a height of 3.95m (12-11.5) ... on her way to WAC Field Athlete of the Week honors, Bothum had the performance of the day, as she broke her own school and meet record in the shot put by more than one foot, as she launched the shot 15.73m (51-7.25) to win the competition by a three-and-a-half-foot margin ... Lewiston native Ryan Bowen kicked off his Vandal career Saturday morning with a win in the men’s long jump at 6.84m (22-5.25), in addition to a 10th-place finish in the high jump and a 14th-place finish in the 60m hurdles ... the team returns to the WSU Indoor Facility for the Cougar Indoor this weekend.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
LTU registered numerous top finishes in its second competition of the 2009 indoor season at the Arkansas Razorback Invitational Jan. 24 ... the team competed in an un-scored meet against top teams such as Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Mississippi State, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Southern, TCU and Tulsa ... in the triple jump, Quatisha Williams brought home a second place finish with a jump of 40’ 7.5” while team mate Brittany Guy finished just out of the top five at sixth place with a jump of 38’ 9.75” ... junior Tiera Hall finished third in the shot put with a throw of 45’ 3.5” ... the women’s 4X400 relay team had yet another great run as they finished fifth with a time of 3:44 topping their time from last weeks meet by four seconds ... the men’s 4X400 relay team also had a good showing, finishing fifth as well with one of the top times in school history at 3:13.15 ... the team will now take two weeks off before preparing for the Texas A&M Invitational on Feb. 13-14.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada tallied several top ten finishes in its meet in Boise at the Blue and Orange Invitational last week ... Junior thrower Constance McAlman led the Pack as she placed third in both the shot put and weight throw ... she threw a 13.16m in the shot put and a 17.06m in the weight throw ... Aurelia Houston and Amanda Moreno recorded the Wolf Pack’s highest finish of the day ... Houston finished second in the triple jump with a jump of 11.24m, while Moreno finished second in the 3000m run with a time of 10:20.07, the top 3000m time in the WAC ... Polly Smith finished fourth in the 800m run with a time of 2:15.84, the mark was the fourth-best finish in the conference ... the Pack’s 4x400m relay team of Tiffany Sells, Analisa Serrano, Polly Smith and Regal Minyard finished fourth out of 11 teams with a time of 3:59.66 ... after a week off, Nevada will return to Boise to compete in the United Heritage Invitational, Feb. 6-7.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State recorded a handful of solid marks against some of the strongest competition of the season, Saturday afternoon at the Cherry and Silver Invitational, at the Albuquerque Convention Center, in Albuquerque, N.M. ... junior throwers Corrissa Hutchinson and Jordan Veney, along with junior distance runners Brittany Hurtado and Ingrid Flores led NM State with their top-notch performances ... Veney recorded a pair of personal-best launches, the first was in the weight throw from a mark of 55-09.25, which ranked her third overall, while the second came in the shot put when she posted a distance of 46-05.25, which was good for fifth place overall ... these marks also improve her indoor ranking on the all-time NM State record lists ... in Hutchinson’s second outing as an Aggie, she recorded a personal-best distance of 46-02.50 in the weight throw that placed her sixth overall and third on the NMSU all-time record list ... NM State is back in action this week as the Aggies make a trip to Seattle, Wash. to compete in the Washington Invitational.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State tallied seven event winners last week at the Blue and Orange Invite in Boise ... junior Jason Holt won the men’s mile with a clocking of 4:14.19; Holt’s time is the second-fastest in the WAC to date ... in the women’s mile, junior Erin Stratton broke the tape in 4:57.87 and was followed by fellow Aggie senior, Allison Taylor finishing in 5:07.92, Stratton’s time puts her at the fastest in WAC to date, while Taylor’s time is currently the third-fastest ... sophomore Clint Silcock won the men’s high jump clearing 7-00.25, improving on his NCAA provisional mark and personal-best for the second meet in a row ... senior Nick Karren won the 60m hurdles race in 8.32 followed closely by senior John Strang at 8.34 in second ... fellow Aggies Blake Bolen (8.52 ) and Jon Goble (8.69) finished in sixth and seventh, respectively ... In the women’s 60m hurdles, junior Ashlee Cannon came in second finishing in 8.73, just shy of her P.R of 8.72 ... the Aggies try their luck in Pullman, Wash. at the Washington State Invitational this week.