THIS WEEK IN WAC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD - With the WAC Championship approaching, conference teams are in preparation mode as the Feb. 26th meet looms.
FEMALE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (FEB. 2-8) -
DENVER ? Boise State’s Paige Olivetti and Eleni Kafourou have been named Western Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week, respectively for Feb. 2?8.
Olivetti, a senior from Reno, Nev. (Wooster HS), earned three first-place finishes at the United Heritage Invitational last weekend. The senior won the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.87 (second in the WAC) and took the 400-meter dash at 56.31 (first in the WAC). Olivetti also helped the 4x400-meter relay team earn a first-place finish with a time of 3:47.75. The mark stands as the second-best effort in the conference this season. This marks the first time this season she has earned the weekly award.
Kafourou, a senior from Athens, Greece (9th Lykeium Pireas HS), broke a school record for the second-straight weekend. She recorded a NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the long jump winning the event with a Boise State record leap of 21-1.25 (6.43m). The mark stands as the fourth-best jump in the nation and ranks No. 1 in the conference by nearly 2.5 feet. This is the second-consecutive competition she has broken a school record. Last week, Kafourou broke the school’s triple jump record with a mark of 43-5.00 (13.23m), a jump that also stands as the fourth-best in the nation. This is the second time in as many weeks she was been named WAC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week.
Other track nominees included: Nevada’s Schavi Hill, Fresno State’s Roxanne Sellick, New Mexico State’s Leah Benton, Utah State’s Elaine Connolly and Idaho’s Allix Lee-Painter.
Other field nominees included: Nevada’s Constance McAlman, Fresno State’s Sharon Ayala, New Mexico State’s Jordan Veney, Utah State’s Spela Hus and Idaho’s Mykael Bothum.
MALE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK (FEB. 2-8) -
Idaho’s Paul Dittmer and Matt Wauters have been named Men’s Indoor Track and Fields Athletes of the Week, respectively, for Feb. 2?8.
Dittmer, a sophomore from Hanstedt, Germany (Gymnasium Winsen), smashed an Idaho school record in the men’s 60-meter hurdles last weekend. First, he ran a 7.94 in the prelims to break the previous record of 7.96 from 2003. He did one better in the final round, as he ran a 7.93 to win the event and improve the Idaho record again. He is the only WAC runner this season to dip below eight seconds in the event. To date, the sophomore now owns three of the WAC’s four fastest times in the event.
Wauters, a senior from Bainbridge, Wash. (Bainbridge HS), won the men’s weight throw twice over the weekend. First, he threw a 20.07m (65-10.25) on Friday at the Vandal Indoor to win the event. The senior then threw a first-place, season-best throw of 20.42m (67-0) at the Runner’s Soul Open the following day. Both throws met the NCAA provisional standard, while his second throw put him at No. 10 in the nation in the event. This is the second time this year Wauters has garnered the weekly award.
Other track nominees: Boise State’s Sawyer Bosch and Utah State’s Nick Karren
Other field nominees: Boise State’s Ryan Grinnell and Utah State’s Bryce Hall.
TEAM NOTES
Boise State Broncos
For the second weekend in a row, the Broncos broke two school records and earned 11 individual titles at the United Heritage Invitational ... the Bronco women won six events at the meet, while the Boise State men captured five individual titles as well ... one her way to earning her second-consecutive WAC weekly honor, Bronco senior Eleni Kafourou had a record setting day for the second week in a row as she broke the Boise State long jump record with a mark of 21-1.25 (6.43m) ... the jump stands as an NCAA automatic qualifying mark and the fourth-best mark in the nation ... Paige Olivetti helped earn three first-place finishes for Boise State over the weekend, winning the 200m, 400m and running a leg of the 4x400m relay ... for the second time in as many weeks, BSU swept the weekly conference awards on the women’s side ... on the men’s side, Ryan Grinnell recorded his second NCAA provisional mark of the season by jumping 7-01.00 (2.16m) in the high jump ... this week, the team will compete in its fifth and final regular season indoor meet next Friday-Saturday (Feb. 13-14) when it host the Boise State Team Invitational.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State took to the road for the first time in the indoor season, competing at the New Mexico Classic in Albuquerque Saturday ... the Bulldogs won three events at the meet and reset multiple personal bests ... four Bulldogs placed among the top-six in the weight throw, Sharon Ayala took first with her third toss of the day, marking 61’-02” (18.64m), surpassing the competition by nearly three feet and putting her atop the WAC standings ... Tiera Hilliard powered through the competition in the 400-meter, timing in at 56.88 seconds, putting her in fifth in WAC standings ... also picking up a top finish was Roxanne Sellick ... the only distance performer on the trip, Sellick ran a 4:59.02 in the mile ... the time moves her from third to second in conference ... this week, the Bulldogs look to improve on their marks at the Boise State Team Invitational in Nampa, Idaho ... the two-day event is scheduled to kick-off this Friday.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Three women athletes placed in the top 10 of their respective events on the second day of the University of Washington Invitational on Jan. 30-31... multi-event athlete Annett Wichmann placed fourth in the individual shot put with a throw of 46-6.75 (14.19m) ... Wichmann scored an NCAA provisional mark of 3,919 points in the pentathlon, an event in which she placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season ... senior Emily Sheppard, who also competed in the pentathlon on Jan. 30, placed seventh overall in the high jump after clearing 5-6.5 (1.69m) ... the Rainbow Wahine also hosted the Sunset Meet #2 last weekend ... Annett Wichmann ran a 9.13 in the 60-meter hurdles ... Jessica Custance and Samantha Weaver both posted 3.80m marks in the pole vault, good for the fourth-best marks in the conference ... Hawai?i returns to the campus of Northern Arizona to compete in the NAU Classic along with fellow WAC foe New Mexico State ... the meet is scheduled to get underway early Saturday.
Idaho Vandals
Last week, the Vandals hosted both Vandal Indoor and Runner’s Soul Open in Moscow ... on his way to earning WAC honors, sophomore Paul Dittmer ran a 7.94 preliminary time in the men’s 60m hurdles to break Idaho’s six-year-old record in the event of 7.96, previously held by Hugh Henry ... just a few minutes later, Dittmer blazed to a 7.93 in the finals en route to a victory and another school-record run ... women’s thrower Mykael Bothum demolished her own school record in the shot put ... after opening the season with a 15.73m (51-7.25) toss at the WSU Open to break her previous record by two feet when she threw a 16.32m (53-6.5) ... the throw was an NCAA provisional mark and is currently the fifth-best throw in the nation ... senior Matt Wauters launched the 35-pound weight 20.42m (67-0) for a season-high and NCAA-provisional mark that ranks in the top 10 in the NCAA so far this season ... UI travels to Seattle to compete in the Husky Classic this week.
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 teammate 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 return to competition after two weeks rest for the Texas A&M Invitational on Feb. 13-14.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada showed well last week at the United Heritage Invitational in Boise ... Polly Smith took fourth overall in the 400m with a time of 57.24 which places her eighth all-time on Nevada’s career 400m list ... Smith also ran a leg of the 4x400m relay with teammates Schavi Hill, April Pate and Katie Avena ... the relay team finished third with a time of 3:52.25 which places them fourth on this year’s WAC performance list ... Constance McAlman finished fourth in the shot put with a throw of 13.36m (43’-10”), on Day one of the invitational, McAlman finished first in the weight throw ... Felicia Ladson, who finished eighth in the high jump, set a PR in the high jump with a jump of 1.58m (5’2.25”) ... Nevada will compete in the Husky Classic on February 14 in Seattle, Wash., and the UW Open Meet on February 15 in Seattle, Wash.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State junior thrower Jordan Veney and junior sprinter Leah Benton made NM State history as they broke the school record in the weight throw and 200-meter dash, respectively, at the New Mexico Invitational, Saturday ... Benton crossed the line in a time of 7.65, which placed her fourth overall, while Veney recorded a mark of 58-04.00 ... the toss improved Veney’s personal best by just over eight inches ... Veney also brought home the gold medal in the shot put with a toss of 47-01, increasing her best by around two inches ... on the track, sophomore distance specialist Amy Arenas recorded a life-time best in the mile run after crossing the finish line a time of 5:16.16 ... the mark ranked her fifth overall and now she sits at third on the NM State all-time record list ... Arenas also recorded a life-time best time in the 5000-meter run, posting a time of 10:30.64 ... the time placed her third both at the meet and on the NM State all-time record list ... The Aggies are back in action Saturday, Feb. 14 as they travel to Flagstaff, Ariz., to compete at the Southwest Classic Invitational.
Utah State Aggies
The Aggies competed in the United Heritage Invitational in Boise last weekend ... USU set three new top WAC marks including the men’s 3,000m, shot put and the 400m ... the Aggies now hold the top one or two position in WAC standings in eight events, the two listed above and first in the high jump and heptathlon as well as, second in the mile, 3,000m and 4x400 relay ... sophomore Brian McKenna won the men’s 3,000m title finishing in 7:54:30.36, smashing the previous conference-best mark by almost 30 seconds ... Elaine Connolly finished the women’s 800m in 2:12.55 which is the fastest time in the WAC thus far this season ... Connolly also anchored the Utah State’s women’s 4x400 relay team who finished second in the race clocking in at 3:49.43, placing them second in WAC standings and a new PR for the team ... The Aggies will continue action Feb. 13-14 at the Air Force Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo.