THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Friday, March 14
Bakersfield at Ben Brown Invitational Fullerton, Calif.
Chicago State at Seahawk Invitational Wilmington, N.C.
Utah Valley at Ben Brown Invitational Fullerton, Calif.
Saturday, March 15
Bakersfield at Cal State LA Invitational Los Angeles, Calif.
Chicago State at Seahawk Invitational Wilmington, N.C.
Texas-Pan American at Islander Open Corpus Christi, Texas
Utah Valley at UNLV Track Classic Las Vegas, Nev.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
Bakersfield at Cal State LA Invitational No Team Scores
Utah Valley at UNLV Track Classic M-1st/2, W-2nd/3
TEAM RECAPS
Bakersfield Roadrunners
Bakersfield competed at the Cal State LA Invitational on March 7-8... there were no team scores recorded ... Bryan Wilmert’s best hammer throw of the day went for a distance of 189-08 (57.82m), good enough for a second place finish in a pool of 16 throwers ... the throw moved Wilmert up the CSUB Top 20 all-time performer’s list with the 17th longest hammer throw in program history ... Dominique Alexander got the ‘Runner women off to a good start as she placed well in the 200m with the 19th fastest time of the day (26.41) ... Alexander also finished 19th out of 40 sprinters ... Megan Thompson ran the fastest 1500m time of all six ‘Runners in the race at 4:59.94, good for 15th place ... this week, Bakersfield will travel to Fullerton, Calif. for the Ben Brown Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Chicago State Cougars
Chicago State competed at the WAC Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Idaho, in its last indoor action of 2014 ... the women placed eighth with 13 points and the men took seventh with 18 points ... freshman Zhate Jackson finished fourth in the 400m with a time of 57.22 and took sixth in the 200m thanks to a 25.04 performance ... senior Corey Scharf was fifth in the 400m with a school record time of 48.52 and earned an eighth place finish in the 200m after a time of 22.55 .... senior Tyler Odom recorded a sixth place finish in the 200m (21.82), a new school record ... to open the outdoor season, the Cougars return to the track on Friday and Saturday for the Seahawk Invite in Wilmington, N.C.
Grand Canyon ‘Lopes
The Grand Canyon University track and field teams had impressive showings at its inaugural WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, as the Antelope women became the first team in school history to win a Division I conference title outright ... the GCU men finished second, scoring 172 points to Idaho’s 173 ... Shavine Hodges shined once again for the ‘Lopes, taking home gold in the 60m, the 200m and the 4x400m relay ... Hodges ran a season-best in both the 60 and 200 and also broke her own school record in the 200m (23.88 seconds) ... Moya McKenzie picked up a gold in both the 400m and 4x400 relay ... on the men’s side, Tyler Vandyke (3K and 5K) and Stephan Bullard (800m/4x400 relay) both won a pair of gold medals at the championships ... the 2014 outdoor slate will get underway on March 21 when Grand Canyon travels to Tucson, Ariz., to compete at the Willie Williams Invitational.
Idaho Vandals
The University of Idaho men’s track and field team claimed the 2014 Indoor WAC track and field championship title in a dramatic meet that came down to one point, 173-172 over Grand Canyon ... the women ended the meet in third place with 127 points ... for the men, after the 4x400m, the triple jump was the last event to be scored – going into the final jumps, Idaho led with 157 points followed closely by Grand Canyon with 152 ... freshman Arphaxad Carroll came up big for Idaho with a career-best jump of 49-2.5 (15.00m) that secured the win for the Vandals ... the Vandals’ men claimed five WAC titles on the final day of the meet ... sophomore Marquita Palmer placed third in the mile with a career-best time of 5:00.31 and came back to run a second-place time of 2:14.35 in the 800m ... the Vandals will be back in action on March 21-22 at the Whitworth in Spokane, Wash.
Kansas City Kangaroos
Kansas City competed at the 2014 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships from Feb. 26-28 in Moscow, Idaho ... the UMKC women finished second overall with 144.5 points and the men finished fourth with 80 points ... three women claimed awards, Courtney Frerichs received the Outstanding Track Performer award, Dahlia Dyson received the Outstanding Field Performer award, and Briana Carter receiving High Point Award ... starting the meet off with a record breaking throw of 18.59m (61-00-00), Dyson captured the winning spot in the women’s 20 lb. weight throw ... Frerichs claimed victories in both the 3000m and the 5000m .... Bryce Miller was second in the men’s mile run in a time of 4:18.24 ... the ‘Roos start up the outdoor season on March 21 at the Tulsa Duels.
New Mexico State Aggies
The New Mexico State track and field team finished competition in the 2014 Western Athletic Conference Championships with a fifth-place team finish ... the Aggies ended with 69 points ... junior Diana Hawk finished the day as the individual champion in the 1-mile run, with a time of 4:57.42 ... Hawk also finished fifth in the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:12.88 ... .... senior Deserae Cota won the individual championship in the pentathlon ... senior Alishia Perkins finished second overall in the 200-meter dash ... she finished with a time of 24.42, and also finished fourth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.67 ... the 4x400-meter relay team finished second with a time of 2:46.28 ... NM State’s outdoor season begins in El Paso, Texas, where the Aggies will compete in the UTEP Springtime Invitational on March 22.
Seattle University Redhawks
The Redhawks competed at the 2014 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships from Feb. 26-28 in Moscow, Idaho to conclude the indoor season ... in the team standings, the Seattle U men finished in sixth place with 44.5 points, while the Redhawk women finished seventh with 22 points ... Shaddye Melu picked finished second in the high jump by clearing 2.08 meters (6’ 9.75”) and took third place in the 400m with a school-record time of 48.25 seconds ... Austin Thummel-Gravitt earned Second Team All-WAC honors after finishing sixth in the 400m 49.10 seconds ... Collin Overbay was third place in the men’s one mile run, posting a time of 4:18.30 ... later in the day, he finished third in the 3000 meter run in 8:40.08 ... SU will now prepare for the outdoor season, which starts at the Oregon Preview on Saturday, March 22.
Texas-Pan American Broncs
Texas-Pan American competed at the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Idaho on Feb. 26-28 ... the men placed fifth and the women took sixth ... Martin Casse was crowned the first-ever WAC Champion in program history ... Dijan Johnson set two program records at the WAC Indoor Championships in the 200-meter dash and 400m with times of 21.71 and 48.14 ... the men’s and women’s teams set a pair of program records in the men’s and women’s 4x400 relay ... the men’s 4x400 team of Edgar Moreno, Ramon Neilly, Carlos Cano and Bryan MacDonald set a new mark after they turned in a time of 3:18.33 ... UTPA will open the outdoor season at the Islander Open in Corpus Christi, Texas on Saturday.
Utah Valley Wolverines
Utah Valley opened the outdoor seasons at the UNLV Track Classic ... the men placed first and the women took second ... freshmen Ryle Williams and Lauren Hicks each set new school records and together the Utah Valley University track & field teams combined to win 16 events ... Williams not only broke the school record in the high jump with a leap of 2.15m (7’-0.50”) but he also won the event by clearing the impressive feat ... Hicks also set a new Utah Valley record in the women’s triple jump as she won the event with a leap of 11.79m (38’-08.25”) ... fellow jumpers Scott Moake and Ty Rosser took second and third in the men’s high jump by putting up personal-best marks of 2.10m (6’-10.75”) and 1.95m (6’-10.75”), respectively ... this week, Utah Valley will compete at the Ben Brown Invitational in on Friday and Saturday.