Nampa, Idaho ? After a strong showing on day two of the WAC championship, Idaho sits atop of the women’s standings with 59.5 team points while Boise State is currently in first place on the men’s side with 51 points. For the women, Hawai’i is in second place with 49.5 points while Boise State (48) and Utah State (42) hold the third and fourth spots. Nevada (25), New Mexico State (22), Fresno State (14) and Louisiana Tech (13) round out the field. On the men’s side, Idaho is holding on to the second spot with 47 points while Utah State is close behind with 42. Louisiana Tech is in fourth place with 12 points after day two of competition.
The second day of the three-day competition began with Utah State senior John Strang winning the heptathlon event for the second straight year with a WAC-record 5,522 points. Strang built over a 300 point cushion after the first day of competition and never relinquished the lead. He took top honors in the high jump (6-11; 2.11m), long jump (23-9.5 ; 7.25m) and the 60-meter hurdles (8.25). Idaho junior Mike Carpenter improved on his third-place finish in the 2008 championship by taking the runner-up honors with 5,071 points, a personal-best. The Vandals claimed three out of the top five spots as Matt Grogan (4,940) and Ryan Bowen (4,885) finished in third and fifth, respectively. Utah State’s Jon Goble had a fourth-place finish with 4,902 points.
In the women’s high jump, Hawai’i finished 1-2-3 for the second year in a row; however, the event produced a new champion. Junior Amber Kaufman took the title for the first time in her career, beating out teammates Sarah Saddleton and two-time defending champion Emily Sheppard. Kaufman and Saddleton both cleared 1.76m (5-09.25), but Kaufman had fewer misses to take the win.
Ryan Grinnell of Boise State took first in the men’s long jump with a leap of 25-4.75 (7.74m). The NCAA provisional jump was his best of the season by nearly eight inches. Boise State athletes rounded out the top three as freshmen Eetu Viitala and Per Strandquist finished second and third, respectively. BSU has now won the long jump four out of the last six years.
On the women’s side of the long jump, Boise State’s Eleni Kafourou posted a 19-10.75 (6.06m) jump to collect her second-straight title. Louisiana Tech’s Quatisha Williams registered a best jump of 19-2.50 (5.85m) to garner second place honors. Rounding out the top three was freshman Jndia Cleveland of New Mexico State who posted a season-best mark of 18-09.75 (5.73m).
Fresno State senior Sharon Ayala took home top honors in the women’s weight throw when she threw a NCAA provisional mark of 62-11.50 (19.19m). She defended her 2008 crown by beating the competition by almost three feet. Boise State’s Mele Vaisima claimed the second spot with a mark of 60-2.00 (18.34m).
Idaho boasted top two finishes in the shot put as junior James Rogan (54-3.25 ; 16.54m) bested teammate Matthew Wauters (52-09.50 ; 16.09m). Louisiana Tech’s Larry Jones claimed third place.
In the women’s pole vault, Idaho junior K.C. Dahlgren earned the no. 1 spot with a mark of 13-4.25 (4.07m). Dahlgren’s mark was just short of the WAC record (13-4.5) and the best mark since 1999, the year the event was placed in the championship. Sonia Grabowska, a sophomore from Utah State, also posted a 13-4.25, but placed second based on number of attempts. Boise State junior Annelise Bertleson claimed the third spot with 13-0.25 (3.97m).
In Friday’s running finals, Idaho senior Allix Lee-Painter followed up her 2008 WAC cross country title with a victory in the 5,000-meter run. She ran a season-best 17:19.23. Junior Steve Strickland of Utah State took the lead in the last leg of the men’s 5,000 to win with a time of 14:41.02 to beat out Sawyer Bosch of Boise State (14:41.88).
Utah State collected both men’s and women’s distance medley relays for the third-straight year to stay in the hunt for the championship. Idaho took runner-up honors in both the men’s and women’s distance medley relays.
Tomorrow’s action gets underway 2:30 p.m. with the remaining field event finals. The running events begin at 5 p.m. with the men’s and women’s mile.
2009 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championship Preview
2009 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championship Day One