HONOLULU
- Utah State's men and Nevada's women are in
the lead entering the final day of the WAC Outdoor Track & Field
Championships at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on the campus of the
University of Hawai'i. For the men, with seven events complete, two-time
defending champion Utah State is leading with 64 points, followed by Boise
State in second place with 58 points. Idaho is in third with 56 points,
followed by Fresno state in fourth place with 25 points. Louisiana Tech is in
fifth place with 14 points. On the women's side, Nevada is in first place with 53
points followed by Utah State with 49 and Hawai'i with 37. Six-time defending
champion Louisiana Tech is in fourth place with 34 points while Idaho and New
Mexico State are tied at fifth with 28 points.
Boise State (23) and Fresno State (21) follow in seventh and eighth
places, respectively.
For the women, day three of the championship started with the women's hammer
throw. The top three finishers from last year finished in the same order this
year. Idaho junior Gabby Midles repeated
as outdoor champion with a heave of 58.80 meters (192 feet, 11 inches). Fresno
State sophomore J'Quyra Moncur-Blue nabbed silver with a toss of 57.96m (190-02).
Hawai'i junior Emma MacCorquodale earned bronze with a mark of 56.36m (184-11).
In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Utah State's
Ruth Hilton won the WAC championship title, crossing the line in 10:41.95. Idaho's
Alycia Butterworth took second with a time of 10:51.95. Utah State junior
Alicia Holt placed third with a time of 10:55.80.
For the men, Boise State junior Sawyer Bosch won the 3,000-meter steeplechase,
finishing in 8:55.80. Utah State senior Daniel Howell moved up one spot from
last year with a time of 8:56.31 to take second. Utah State senior Steve Atkinson nabbed third
place with a time of 9:02.44.
In the men's javelin, Boise State's Pontus Thomee won his fourth consecutive
javelin title with a throw of 64.51m (211-08).
His teammate, Alex Cartwright, took second with a toss of 63.96m
(209-10) while Louisiana Tech senior Larry Jones was third with a mark of
62.21m (204-01).
In the men's pole vault, Idaho senior Lucas Pope captured the gold with a
school-record mark of 5.26m (17-03.00). Second place went to Utah State senior
John Johnson with a height of 4.95m (16-02.75) while Fresno State sophomore
Andrew Mashler took the bronze at 4.85m (15-11.00).
In the men's shot put, Idaho senior Eugenio Mannucci
improved from his second place finish last year to win the event with a toss of
18.43m (60-05.75). Louisiana Tech senior
Larry Jones took the silver with a mark of 17.52m (57-05.75) while Boise State junior
Chase Sexton garnered bronze for the second straight season with a mark of 16.46m
(54-00.00).
In the women's long jump, Louisiana Tech went 1-2 as senior Chelsea Hayes
claimed the title with a jump of 6.35m (20-10.00) while senior Tiana Davis was
second with a mark of 6.07m (19-11.00). Hayes'
mark is the second best ever at Louisiana Tech, and she passed on all three
final attempts while warming up for the 100-meter dash. Boise State sophomore Racquel Jones recorded
a leap of 6.05m (19-10.25) to finish third.
Hawai'i junior TeRina Keenan claimed the women's discus gold for the second
straight season with a throw of 49.27m (161-08). Louisiana Tech sophomore took
silver with a mark of 48.36m (158-08), and Utah State senior Shannon Prince
grabbed bronze with a toss of 47.94m (157-03).
In the women's high jump, an athlete from Hawai'i won for the sixth straight
year as sophomore Sarah Saddleton cleared 1.80m (5-10.75) for the gold. Nevada teammates La Tijera Avery and Nicole
Williams each cleared 1.74m (5-08.50) with Avery claiming second place due to
less misses at that height.
Boise State took the top two places in the men's long
jump as last year's second place finisher, Eetu Viitala, won with a jump of
7.44m (24-05.00). Rolando Trammel was
second at 7.08m (23-02.75). Fresno State
freshman Justin Lovingood took the bronze with a distance of 6.97m (22-10.50).
New Mexico State juniors Camille and Courtney Schultz finished 1-2 in the
10,000 meters with Camille crossing the line at 36:53.48 and Courtney at
36:53.75. Utah State senior Kim Quinn
was third at 37:02.58.
Idaho junior Barry Britt won the last men's event of the evening, the 10,000
meters, in a time of 30:24.99. Utah
State sophomore Kyle McKenna improved on his third place finish a year ago to
take the silver with a time of 30:26.13.
Utah State senior Brian McKenna claimed third in 30:46.65.
The final day of the championship starts Friday afternoon with the men's hammer
throw at 1:30 p.m. (HT). Finals of running
events start at 5:00 p.m. with the women's 4x400-meter relay.
Women's Team Scores (through seven events)
1. Nevada, 53
2. Utah State, 49
3. Hawai'i, 37
4. Louisiana Tech, 34
5. Idaho, 28
New Mexico State, 28
7. Boise State, 23
8. Fresno State, 21
Men's Team Scores (through seven events)
1. Utah State, 64
2. Boise State, 58
3. Idaho, 56
4. Fresno State, 25
5. Louisiana Tech, 14
-WAC-