THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Utah Valley at Mountain States (Distance) Pocatello, Idaho
Grand Canyon at Mountain T's Invitational Flagstaff, Ariz.
New Mexico State at Texas Tech Masked Rider Lubbock, Texas
Texas-Pan American at Texas Tech Masked Rider Lubbock, Texas
Seattle U at UW Invitational Seattle, Wash.
TEAM NOTES
BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS
Bakersfield opened their 2015 season this Saturday at the Lumberjack Team Challenge in Flagstaff, Arizona. Tricia Cervantes impressed in her Roadrunner debut, coming close to personal bests in both the long jump and 60m hurdles at the Lumberjack Team Challenge in Arizona. Cervantes posted a time of 9.42 to finish eighth in the 60m hurdles on Saturday, but her time is already two seconds faster than the best CSUB mark from 2014. The junior would go on to post a distance of 16-04.50 in the long jump, another solid mark in a competitive field that included UCLA. Joining Cervantes in making a debut was freshman Susannah Vera. Her mark of 5-01 in the high jump is just the first mark of her young career, but is already only three inches away from the best ‘Runner height of 2014 in the event (5-04) and puts her on the CSUB Top 20 all-time list for high jump. Redshirt Senior Megan Thompson ran a solid 3000m race, finishing fourth in a time of 11:28.71, which is less than 30 seconds outside of the CSUB all-time Top 20 in the event. The Runners will be back in action on February 16 at the Run for the Dream in Fresno, Calif.
CHICAGO STATE COUGARS
Chicago State had a strong showing for the Cougars at the Kentucky Invitational this weekend. Junior Kory Jackson started 2015 strong with a 3rd place finish in the Men's Long Jump in Lexington, KY. His mark of 7.07 (23' 2.5") places him on top of the current WAC performance list. Senior DeShaunte Lewis breaks his own school record in the 3K distance run, lowering his mark by 2 seconds with a 8:50.53 to finish 17th overall in the event. On the women's side, Senior Oslyn Collins lowers her own school record in the Women's 800m with a time of 2:24.01 at the Kentucky Invitational. Collins' performance earned her a top 25 finish in the event and in the top 10 in conference rankings. The Cougar men's and women's track and field teams head to Bucknell this weekend to compete in the Gulden Invitational.
GRAND CANYON ANTELOPES
The Grand Canyon University men's and women's track and field teams had a strong showing Saturday at the Lobo Collegiate Open in Albuquerque, N.M. The Antelopes turned in several conference-leading performances and shattered a pair of school records.Paeden Jackson set a new school record in the 600-meter run, as the first-year Lope finished with a time of 1:35.77. Kelsi Klotter broke her own school record in the 3,000-meter run, placing second with a time of 10:30.69. Klotter and GCU's previous best was 10:39.46. In her first outing of the year, Vanessa Levy notched a first-place finish in the weight throw with her toss of 17.43 meters. Levy's distance is a conference-best and is the first throw in the WAC to break 17 meters this season in the weight throw. The senior also picked up an eighth in the shot put with her distance of 13.00 meters. Lance Parker came away with the fastest time in the WAC in the 200-meter dash after clocking a time of 21.70 seconds. Parker's time was the ninth-fastest among collegiate competitors. Jahliell Wiltshire turned in the top performance in the conference this season in the 60-meter hurdles after racing to a second-place finish with his time of 8.17 seconds. The Lopes will be back in action Friday when they travel to NAU for the two-day Mountain T's Invitational.
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY KANGAROOS
The Kangaroos came home with a champion and several top ten finishers after competing at the Jim Emmerich Invitational on Saturday at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex hosted by South Dakota State. For the women's side, Genel Rollins was able to finish in eighth for the 60 meter dash (7.87 sec) and tied for eleventh in the women's 200 meter dash beside her teammate Kamaya Tucker, running splits of 25.91 seconds. Chantel Bethune clocked in at 25.78 seconds earning tenth. In the 600 meter run, sophomore Janelle Johnson came in seventh place running the finals in 1:37. Making huge strides in the hurdles, Mallory Short and Sydia Darker were able to score points in the women's 60 meter hurdles as they each came in third and seventh place, running 8.90 and 9.24, respectively. The two freshman, Traci Mills and Blessing Oparaji, and senior, Brianna Carter, placed in the top ten for the women's long jump with final marks of 5.44, 5.25, and 5.14 meters, each. Kelsey Beniot tossed the shot put 13.31 meters earning tenth place while Yasmin Musaddiq earned tenth in the women's weight throw with her final mark of 15.70 meters. Joshua Harden had a good meet as he recorded a triple jump mark of 14.58 meters earning him second place. He also took ninth place in the men's long jump recording a leap at 6.26 meters. Blake Hocking threw a personal record in the men's shot put tossing it 16.42 meters earning fourth place. The Kangaroos will return to action next Friday, Jan. 30th to compete at the Jayhawk Classic hosted by Kansas.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES
The New Mexico State track and field team performed well during its second meet of the season at the Lobo Collegiate Invitational on Saturday. Senior Diana Hawk led the Aggies, finishing sixth in the mile with a time of 5:01.58. Dominique Jackson competed well against the competition in the women's 200-meters with a time of 25.45 against 72 other student-athletes. In the 60-meter dash, Jackson recorded a time of 7.84 placing 20th against 41 competitors. Dominique Joiner also finished the day off well for the Aggies with a time of 8.06 in the 60-meter dash and a time 25.45 in the 200-meter dash. The Aggies are back in action next Friday as they travel to Lubbock, Texas to compete in the Texas Tech University Masked Rider Invitational.
SEATTLE U REDHAWKS
Two school records fell as the Seattle University track and field team opened the 2015 indoor season at the UW Indoor Preview last Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor Facility on the campus of the University of Washington. Shaddye Melu improved upon his own school record in the high jump, clearing 2.10 meters (6' 10.75") on his first attempt at the height. Sophie Curatilo maintained the momentum from her exemplary cross country season, breaking the school record in the 3000 meter run by over five seconds with a time of 9:51.28. Besides Melu, the highlight in the field events came in the women's high jump, when Mandie Maddux (Gresham, Ore.) cleared 1.64 meters (5' 4.5"), just 1/100th of a meter, or about a half-inch, off the school record. Maddux finished in sixth place overall in the event. Seattle University returns to Dempsey Indoor in two weeks for the UW Invitational Friday and Saturday, Jan. 30-31.
TEXAS PAN-AMERICAN BRONCS
Senior Trey Taylor won the men's weight throw to lead the University of Texas-Pan American Broncs track and field team last Friday at the Texas A&M 13-Team Invitational at the Gilliam Indoor Track and Field Stadium. Taylor hit a mark of 17.06 meters, which ranks fourth in program history, to take the top spot in the event. He was the only thrower to surpass 17 meters. Taylor then finished in seventh place in the shot put with a throw of 14.56 meters. Freshman Isaac Samuels finished in eighth place in the shot put with 13.99 meters while freshman and Mission High School alum Antonio Salinas finished in 10th with a throw of 13.92 meters. On the women's side, graduate student and Edinburg High School alum Robin Galloso finished in second place in the mile run with a time of 5:07.80, which ranks fourth in program history. Freshman and Los Fresnos High School alum Jennifer Zapata finished a spot behind Galloso in third place with a time of 5:19.05. The Broncs are back in action on Jan. 30 when they travel to Lubbock for the Masked Raider, hosted by Texas Tech.
UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES
The Wolverines competed very well at the Air Force Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo. this weekend. Senior Michael McPherson finished first in the 60m dash and the long jump and tied for first in the high jump. In the 60m, McPherson finished in 6.95 seconds and was the only finisher under seven seconds, earning 900 points. He lept 7.20m in the long jump, earning 862 points. In the shot put, the third event, McPherson finished in the ninth position overall with a mark of 10.49m, adding another 515 points to his total. In the final event of the day, he tied for first place in the high jump with a mark of 1.94m, grabbing another 749 points. Scott Moake finished in eighth place with a mark of 2.05m on Saturday at the Air Force Invitational. Moake's performance follows up Michael McPherson's win in the heptathlon on Friday, securing McPherson's place in the national spotlight, currently ranking No. 3 in the nation. Utah Valley's distance team competes next weekend at the Mountain States (Distance) in Pocatello, Idaho.
This Week in WAC Indoor Track & Field
WAC Indoor Performance List