College Station, Texas ? Boise State long jumper, Eleni Kafourou highlighted the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships as she jumped to a national championship last weekend. Overall, nine other WAC athletes garnered All-American honors at the Indoor Championships in College Stations, Texas.
Boise State
The Broncos finished its indoor season with one national title and four top-seven. Following Eleni Kafourou’s historic long jump title on Friday, the Broncos earned All-American status in three events to close out the weekend.
Senior Ryan Grinnell also earned All-American status in the men’s triple jump with a leap of 53-3.00 (16.23m). He finished fourth in the event, which marks his best finish at an NCAA National Championship meet
Simon Wardhaugh, a senior, capped off the weekend with a fifth-place finish in the men’s weight throw (71-5.00/21.65m). For the second consecutive year Wardhaugh has finished fifth at the national meet. Wardhaugh’s finish also earned him All-American honors for the second time in as many years.
Fresno State
Sharon Ayala earned All-American honors in the 20-pound weight throw, finishing sixth. The senior entered the meet as the nation's No. 10 athlete in the event.
In the preliminaries, Ayala set a new school record in the event, tossing the weight 66-feet, 6-inches (20.26 meters) on her third throw. Her throw sent her soaring into the finals. After the finals, Ayala maintained the sixth-best mark, earning her the All-American honors.
Hawai?i
High jumper Amber Kaufman placed sixth and pentathlete Annett Wichmann finished seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships. With their top eighth finishes, both earned All-America honors. For Wichmann it was her second straight indoor All-America distinction after placing fourth in 2008. Kaufman competed in her first-ever NCAA Indoor Championship.
Kaufman cleared her first three heights of 5-7 (1.70m), 5-8.75 (1.75m) and 5-10.75 (1.80m) on her first of three attempts. However, she failed to cross the bar at 6-0 (1.83m), which earned her a tie with Nebraska’s Epley Bullock for sixth place. Texas’ Destinee Hooker won the competition with an NCAA record 6-6 (1.98m).
Wichmann got off to a shaky start in the five-discipline pentathlon. She false-started in the 60-meter hurdles which led to a conservative push-off and a 9.05 second finish, leaving her in last place among the 18 competitors. However, she rebounded with a school-record jump of 5-8.75 (1.75m) in the high jump ? third overall ? which vaulted her to 10th place. Both Kaufman and Wichmann scored team points in their events totaling 4.5 for UH, which placed the Rainbow Wahine 44th overall.
Idaho
Juniors KC Dahlgren and Mykael Bothum, competed in their first NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship meet as both came away with their first career All-America honors.
Dahlgren, who entered the weekend ranked 16th in the pole vault and was the last competitor accepted in the event, cleared 4.15m (13-7.25) and finished in a three-way tie for sixth place. Kylie Hutson, a junior from Indiana State, won with a height of 14-3.25.
Bothum, who broke her own Idaho school record with a toss of 16.78m (55-0.75) in winning WAC title in the women’s shot put, threw 16.19m (53-1.5) and took seventh in the event. Florida’s Miriam Kevkhishvili was the repeat champion with a throw of 58-6.5.
Utah State
Senior John Strang earned All-American honors in the heptathlon while sophomore Clint Silcock collected All-American accolades in the high jump tying for ninth-place. Sophomore Sonia Grabowska also competed well in the pole vault, finishing 15th.
Strang finished in eighth overall in the heptathlon with a new PR, Utah State school record and improving on his WAC record of 5,532 points. Strang finished in eighth in the 60m hurdles tying his season best at 8.25 following up with a 12th-place finish in the pole vault clearing 14-01.25 (4.30m). In the final heptathlon event, the 1,000m, Strang finished in a new season best time of 2:50.51.
Strang and Silcock are Utah State's first All-Americans since Brett Guyman earned the honor in 2002 for his performance in the 400m hurdles. They are the first duo to earn All-American honors together since 1998 when Shane Bingham (mile) and Mark Calvin (pole vault) both garnered the accolade at the 1998 Indoor National Championships.
ALL-AMERICANS
|
School |
Athlete |
Event |
|
Boise State |
Ryan Grinnell, Sr. |
Triple Jump |
|
Boise State |
Simon Wardhaugh, Sr. |
Weight Throw |
|
Boise State |
Eleni Kafourou, Sr. |
Long Jump |
|
Fresno State |
Sharon Ayala, Sr. |
Weight Throw |
|
Hawai?i |
Amber Kaufman, So. |
High Jump |
|
Hawai?i |
Annett Wichmann, Sr. |
Pentathlon |
|
Idaho |
Mykael Bothum, Sr. |
Shot Put
|
|
Idaho |
KC Dahlgren, Sr. |
Pole Vault |
|
Utah State |
Clint Silcock, So. |
High Jump |
|
Utah State |
John Strang, Sr. |
Heptathlon |
MEN'S FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
|
Place |
School |
Points |
|
T27 |
Boise State |
9 |
|
T59 |
Utah State |
1 |
WOMEN'S FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
|
Place |
School |
Points |
|
19 |
Boise State |
19 |
|
44 |
Hawai?i |
4.50 |
|
T45 |
Idaho |
4 |
|
T51 |
Fresno State |
3 |