THIS WEEK IN THE WAC
Grand Canyon at Air Force Quadrangular Colorado Springs, Colo.
Utah Valley at Air Force Quadrangular Colorado Springs, Colo.
Chicago State at Meyo Classic South Bend, Ind.
Chicago State at University of Chicago Invite Chicago, Ill.
New Mexico State at University of New Mexico Classic Albuquerque, N.M.
UTAH VALLEY & SEATTLE U MEN EARN WEEKLY REGIONAL RECOGNITION
The Utah Valley and Seattle U 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 12th while Seattle U ranked 15th overall in the West Region.
BAKERSFIELD ROADRUNNERS
Another Seattle University indoor track and field record was broken over the weekend as the Redhawks competed at the UW Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor Facility. Alisa Poplawski etched her name into the Seattle U record book, posting a time of 2:16.89 in the women's 800 meter run. Davis also competed in the 800 meter run Saturday, finishing with a time of 2:18.96. Shaddye Melu came close to breaking another record, finishing second in the 400 meter dash in 48.28 seconds. Sophie Curatilo won her section of the women's 5000 meter run, finishing in eighth place overall with a time of 17:14.94. Joe Charbonneau (Bellingham, Wash.) posted a similar performance in the men's 5000 meter run, finishing first in his section and 11th overall in the event with a time of 14:54.25. Gus Arroyo finished third in his section in the men's one mile run with a personal collegiate-best time of 4:15.39. Austin Thummel-Gravitt finished fourth in his heat and 15th overall in the men's 200 meter dash with a time of 22.80 seconds. The Seattle University track and field team returns to Dempsey Indoor in two weeks for the Husky Classic Feb. 13-14.
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 toSouth Bend, Indiana for the Meyo Classic on Feb. 6.
GRAND CANYON ANTELOPES
The GCU men's and women's track and field teams competed over the weekend at the two-day Mountain T's Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz. While competing inside the Walkup Skydome on the campus of NAU, the Lopes turned in several conference-leading performances. Moya McKenzie raced to the fastest time in the WAC in the 200-meter dash on her way to taking home first. Josh Ralston was the top collegiate finisher in the men's 200-meter dash, clocking a time of 21.84 seconds-the third-fastest in the conference this season. True freshmen Timmy Johnson and Timothy Ryan finished second and third, respectively, in the heptathlon. Both the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams collected WAC-best times over the weekend in the mile relay. The Lopes will next travel to the Air Force Team Challenge next Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo.
MISSOURI-KANSAS CITY KANGAROOS
The Kangaroos had a successful weekend at the Jayhawk Classic where several of the members of the squad ended up breaking school records and making the top 5 all-time performances in the UMKC Track & Field record book. Chantel Bethune took first in the AM session of the women's 400-meter dash recording a lap at 58.23. On the men's side for the 400-meter dash Eric Yarbrough, made a personal record with his third place finish recording a split of 50.21 seconds. For the women's 600-yard run, senior Veronica Rollins broke her previous champion spot in the Top-5 All-Time Indoor Performance list of 1:25.68, with a time of 1:24.40 at this meet. Mallory Short broke the women's Top-5 All-Time Indoor Performance List for UMKC with her finish in the 60 meter hurdles, second all-time in the record books with her 8.89 seconds, taking third place overall in the meet. Briana Carter won the triple jump with a leap of 11.98 meters, granting her a spot in the women's Indoor Top-5 All-Time Performance list for the record books. Blake Hocking took fourth overall in the men's shot put; he succeeded in breaking records and is now in the Top-5 Men's Indoor all-time Performance list as having the best toss at 17.07 meters. The Kangaroos will return to action next Friday, Feb. 6th to compete at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Mizzou in Columbia, Mo.
NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES
The New Mexico State track and field team fought hard during the two-day Texas Tech Masked Rider with Diana Hawk taking first in the 1000-meter run on the first day of the meet. Hawk finished with a time of 3:01.21 taking first overall. Senior Megan McNally also finished the day with a strong finish in the 5000-meter run recording a time of 18:26.76 to finish fifth overall. In field events, LaShya Cole marked a 5.38m (17-1/8) finishing eighth overall in the long jump. During the second day, Hawk finished third on the 3000-meter race with a time of 10:07.60. Junior Kelsi Gonzalez finished seventh overall in the 800-meter run marking a time of 2:19.47 against 49 other runners. Dominique Joiner finished in the top 15 during the women's 200-meter dash recording a time of 25.45 placing 11th overall. Kayli Farmer marked 1.56m (5-1 1/4) in the women's high jump tying for eighth. Akuadasuo Ezenyilimba finished ninth overall in the weight throw recording a mark of 14.47m (47-5). The Aggies continue their season in Albuquerque, N.M. as they prepare to compete at the University of New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Feb. 7.
SEATTLE U REDHAWKS
Another Seattle University indoor track and field record was broken over the weekend as the Redhawks competed at the UW Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor Facility. Alisa Poplawski etched her name into the Seattle U record book, posting a time of 2:16.89 in the women's 800 meter run. Davis also competed in the 800 meter run Saturday, finishing with a time of 2:18.96. Shaddye Melu came close to breaking another record, finishing second in the 400 meter dash in 48.28 seconds. Sophie Curatilo won her section of the women's 5000 meter run, finishing in eighth place overall with a time of 17:14.94. Joe Charbonneau (Bellingham, Wash.) posted a similar performance in the men's 5000 meter run, finishing first in his section and 11th overall in the event with a time of 14:54.25. Gus Arroyo finished third in his section in the men's one mile run with a personal collegiate-best time of 4:15.39. Austin Thummel-Gravitt finished fourth in his heat and 15th overall in the men's 200 meter dash with a time of 22.80 seconds. The Seattle University track and field team returns to Dempsey Indoor in two weeks for the Husky Classic Feb. 13-14.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN BRONCS
The University of Texas-Pan American Broncs men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up the Masked Rider Open with seven top-10 finishes on Saturday at the Texas Tech Athletic Training Center. Freshman Jennifer Zapata posted a sixth place finish in the one-mile run with a time of 5:15.04 while Robin Galloso finished just outside of the top-10 in 11th with a time of 5:19.86. Galloso also posted a seventh place finish in the 3,000-meter run after recording a time of 10:32.88. Erika Anderson finished in third place in the weight throw after hitting a mark of 16.01 meters and sophomore Cristina Santiago Bravo posted a 10th place finish with a throw of 14.34 meters. On the men's side, senior Trey Taylor posted a third place finish in the weight throw with a throw 17.20 meters while sophomore Javier Carretero posted a 10th place finish with a throw of 16.73 meters. Junior Jose Juan Wells added a 10th place finish in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:59.24. The Broncs are back in action on February 13 when they travel to Houston for the Houston Tune Up.
UTAH VALLEY WOLVERINES
Junior Jason Lynch set the new Utah Valley University men's indoor track and field 5000m record on Friday with a time of 14:45.16, with a TFRRS altitude adjusted time of 14:24.84 at the Mountain States Games hosted by Idaho State in Pocatello at the Holt Arena. Seth Gutzwiller finished third overall and second for Utah Valley with a time of 15:27.27. On the women's side, senior Ivie Gonsalves finished fourth overall in the 5000m with a time of 18:23.73. The women wrapped up the pentathlon with junior Ashli Schulz taking third place overall with 3,253 points. Schulz finished in first place in the 800m run with a time of 2:23.76 in her race. Jessica Beatty finished in first place in the 60m hurdles portion of the pentathlon with a time of 8.98 seconds, earning her 914 points. Tarin Strosser finished in first place in the shot put with a thorw of 11.30m for 615 points. Jones finished in first place in the 60m dash with a time of 7.08 seconds awarding him 854 points. Jones also won the long jump with a mark of 6.59m for 718 points and also won the high jump with a mark of 1.91m for an additional 723 points. On Saturday Rusty Jones earned second place in the men's heptathlon with 5,214 points. He won the pole vault with a mark of 4.60m (15'01") for 790 points. The Wolverines are back in action this Friday at the Air Force Quadrangular in Colorado Springs, Colo.
This Week in WAC Indoor Track & Field
WAC Indoor Performance List