THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Thursday, February 19
Utah Valley at Weber State Invite Ogden, Utah
Friday, February 20
Grand Canyon at NAU Tune-Up Flagstaff, Ariz.
UTAH VALLEY MEN EARN WEEKLY REGIONAL RECOGNITION- (Feb. 16)
The Utah Valley men's indoor track and field teams earned USTFCCCA recognition after being ranked in the top 15 of the regional rankings.
Utah Valley appeared in the men's Mountain Region rankings placing 13th.
BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS
Bakersfield opened their 2015 season on Jan. 24 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 on Jan. 24. 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' 2.5â€) 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 South Bend, Indiana for the Meyo Classic on Feb. 6.
GRAND CANYON ANTELOPES
The Grand Canyon University men's and women's track and field teams competed over the weekend at the two-day NAU Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz. Timothy Ryan and Jenny Rolph won the men's and women's pole vault competition, respectively, while Robert Matthew took home first in the triple jump. Ryan also won the high jump, setting a new school record after clearing the bar at a height of 2.05 meters. Lance Parker (200-meter dash) and Aaron Thurber (60-meter dash) raced to conference-best times over the weekend in Flagstaff and Emily Wilkinson broke her own school record in the mile run. The Lopes will head back to Flagstaff Friday for the NAU Tune-Up for their final meet before the WAC Indoor Championships.
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY KANGAROOS
The Kansas City track and field teams had another solid meet at the Tiger Invitational last Friday, as the women came in second place out of six teams and the men finished second out of five teams. The ‘Roo women had several top five finishers. On the men's side, there were five-first place finishers (Roach, Yarbrough, Miller, and Harden), including the men's 4x400m relay team. Members of the cross country squad scored numerous points in the men and women's 3000m run. Jason Fambrough earned second place, running 8:44.63. The one mile run was a strong course for the senior Bryce Miller as he won the whole thing recording a finish at 4:13.93 minutes-which is now the third best time in school history. For the shorter sprints, Kenny Roach and Genel Rollins finished in the top three for the 60m dashes as Roach came in first with his split of 6.96, and Rollins came in third with her split of 7.77 seconds. The 400m race proved to be a solid one for the freshman from St. Louis, Eric Yarbrough, as he finished first recording a split of 50.10 seconds. Senior Joshua Harden won the men's triple jump with his bound of 13.75 meters. Both of the women's and men's teams took first place in the 4x400m relays. The Kangaroos will return to action Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13-14, in Brookings, S.D. to compete in the SDSU Indoor Invitational.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES
The New Mexico State track and field team finished the Don Kirby Invitational with improved times during the two-day meet in Albuquerque, N.M with senior Diana Hawk coming close to breaking her own school record in the mile with a time of 4:58.71. Junior Kelsi Gonzalez also found success during on Friday as she finished first overall in the 800-meter run recording a time of 2:16.99. Ashley Hall and Cristina Amberg also competed in the event with Hall finishing just above Amberg at seventh overall with a time of 2:22.31 and Amberg finishing with a time of 2:22.52. The Aggies have a week off to prepare for the WAC Indoor Championships on Friday, Feb. 27 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
SEATTLE U REDHAWKS
Three more school records were rewritten as some of Seattle University's best track and field athletes competed at the Husky Classic Friday and Saturday, hosted by the University of Washington. First, Candice de Sauvage finished second in her heat of the 400 meter dash with a time of 57.67 seconds, a half-second faster than the mark she posted at the 2014 WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Later in the day, Shaddye Melu won his heat and finished fourth overall with a mark of 48.12 seconds, 13/100ths of a second quicker than the previous record he established at last year's conference meet. Sophie Curatilo completed the record-setting trifecta in the women's one mile run, posting a time of 4:51.13 winning her section of the event. Elsewhere in the meet, Austin Thummel-Gravitt finished fourth in his heat of the 400 meter dash in 49.86 seconds, while Alyssa Gonzales finished fifth in her heat of the 60 meter dash in 8.08 seconds. In field events, Nick Redlew finished 12th in the triple jump with a top mark of 12.77 meters (41' 10.75â€), and Devon Walker posted a season-best mark of 13.16 meters (43' 2.25â€) in the weight throw. The Seattle University track and field team will now prepare for the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 26-28.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN BRONCS
The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's and women's track and field teams combined to post 15 top-10 finishes at the Houston Tune Up on Friday. Graduate student Robin Galloso finished ninth in the women's mile run with a time of 5:10.11and fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.01. Senior Leocajuan Williams posted a 10th place finish in the women's triple jump after leaping a distance of 10.81 meters. Freshman Ashley Pierce added a 10th place finish in the shot put with a throw of 10.24 meters. On the men's side, junior Jose Juan Wells finished in ninth place in the mile run with a time of 4:24.47. Junior Ramon Neilly added a seventh place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.76 seconds while junior Trevion Williams posted a seventh place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.03 seconds. Senior Trey Taylor posted a ninth place finish in the weight throw with a throw of 16.07 meters while sophomore Javier Carretero finished in 10th place with 15.99 meters. Freshman Isaac Samuels posted a 10th place finish in the shot put with a mark of 13.45 meters. The Broncs have some time off before heading to Colorado Springs, Colorado on February 26 for the Western Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.
UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES
In the double-dual scored meet last weekend, the Utah Valley women's team just fell short to WAC foe Grand Canyon, 228-213, while the men's team bested the Lopes 223-220. The Wolverines defeated Air Force (Women 255-152, Men 222-183) and Wyoming (Women 208-180, Men 233-163) respectively. Senior Jessica Beatty set a new indoor track and field school record in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.74 seconds. She also set new personal records in the 60m with a time of 7.85 seconds and in the high jump with a mark of 1.65m or 5'5". Alena Gillespie set a personal record in the 200m with a time of 25.65 seconds, while teammate Chantil Martin had a PR in the shot put with a mark of 11.77m or 38' 7.50". On the men's side, Brenden Emery also had two PR's in the mile and the 3000m, with times of 4:25.90 and 9:00.80, respectively. Teammate Logan Petty finished just ahead of Emery in the 3000m run, for first place with a time of 8:59.78. Rusty Jones, ranked No. 23 nationally in the heptathlon, set a new personal record in the 60m with a time of 7.22 seconds. The Wolverines will travel next to the Weber State Invitational on Feb. 19 in Ogden, Utah.
This Week in WAC Indoor Track & Field
WAC Indoor Performance List