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WAC Announces Pre-Championship Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll
The Western Athletic Conference announced its men's and women's outdoor track and field pre-championship coaches polls, as voted on by the eight head coaches in the league. Grand Canyon was selected as the favorite to win both the men's and women's championship.
On the men's side, Grand Canyon was picked as the favorite with six first place votes and 36 points overall. Utah Valley captured second place with 31 points and one first place vote. Right behind the Wolverines is Kansas City with 24 points. UT Rio Grande Valley with 23 points and CSU Bakersfield with 15 points grab the fourth and fifth spots. Seattle U is sixth with ten points and Chicago State rounds out the men's poll with eight points.
For the women, Grand Canyon was also picked as the favorite to win the conference championship with six first place votes and 48 points overall. NM State was close behind with 43 points and two first place votes. Utah Valley is favorited to finish third and had a total of 37 points. Kansas City grabs the fourth spot with 32 points. UT Rio Grande Valley with 25 points, CSU Bakersfield with 18 points, and Seattle U with 14 points are fifth, sixth, and seventh. Chicago State rounds out the women's poll at eighth place with seven points.
The 2018 Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field championships will take place in Lawrence, Kansas this Wednesday-Saturday, May 9-12.
2018 Pre-Championship Men's Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (6) 36
2 Utah Valley (1) 31
3 Kansas City 24
4 UT Rio Grande Valley 23
5 CSU Bakersfield 15
6 Seattle U 10
7 Chicago State 8
2018 Pre-Championship Women's Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll
Rank Team (1st - Place Votes) Points
1 Grand Canyon (6) 48
2 NM State (2) 43
3 Utah Valley 37
4 Kansas City 32
5 UT Rio Grande Valley 25
6 CSU Bakersfield 18
7 Seattle U 14
8 Chicago State 7
WAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
MEN
Kansas City's Darrien Case and Carter Grissom have been named Western Athletic Conference Men's Track & Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for April 30-May 6.
Case, a junior from Parkville, Mo., won the 1,500 meter event at the Nebraska Invitational this past weekend. To outrun his 22 competitors, Case crossed the finish line in 3:53.24 to give the ‘Roos one of the four individual wins of the weekend.
Grissom, a junior from Overland Park, Kan., performed a second best javelin throw in the WAC this season and second best in Kansas City history at the Nebraska Invitational this past weekend. His throw of 64.23 meters was enough to out throw 12 competitors to win the event.
Other track nominees: Chicago State's DiJon Smith placed second in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:03.71… UT Rio Grande Valley's Yariel Matute ran the 200 meter dash in 21.42 and joined his 4x100 relay team to run the event in 42.21 seconds.
Other field nominees: UT Rio Grande Valley's Anthony Magallon tied for first with a mark of 2.01 meters in the high jump.
WOMEN
Seattle U's Michelle Newblom and UT Rio Grande Valley's Ashley Pierce have been named Western Athletic Conference Women's Track & Field Athletes of the Week, respectively, for April 30-May 6.
Newblom, a sophomore from Reno, Nev., had a record breaking performance in the 100 meter hurdles at the Ken Shannon Invitational this past weekend. The record she broke stood for 42 years and fell as she won her heat. She placed fifth out of 15 student-athletes with a best time of 14.78 seconds.
Pierce, a senior from Las Vegas, set a new personal record in the hammer throw at the Tom Tellez Invitational this past weekend in Houston. As she placed third in the meet and produced a WAC third-best mark, she had a measurement of 50.69 meters
Other track nominees: Chicago State's Asia Johnson placed first in the 100-meter hurdle event with a time of 14.29… Kansas City's Malon Lee placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.16 and third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.67.
Other field nominees: Chicago State's Ayo-Ola Sobowale won the discus event with a mark of 39.81 meters and placed third in the javelin throw with a mark of 26.71… Kansas City's Jada Steele placed third in the long jump with a mark of 5.57 meters.