U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY - Brigham Young University returned to form at the Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships held at the Air Force Academy's Cadet Field House.
The Cougar men, who lost their title a year ago, regained the crown Saturday with 190 points. Colorado State, the defending champion, finished second with 176 points followed by Air Force (135), Wyoming (80), New Mexico (49) and Utah (26).
The Cougar women kept their perfect MWC streak intact by scoring 179.50 points to far outdistance second place San Diego State (119). Colorado State finished third with 115 points followed by Wyoming (78), Utah (58), New Mexico (49.50), UNLV (37) and Air Force (25).
Saturday's championship finals produced several noteworthy highlights:
Air Force junior Bryant Bevan (Langhorne, Pa.) set a new Mountain West Conference Championships record in the men's 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.46. The previous record was 1:53.04 by Jeffrey Hopkinson (BYU) set in 2001.
Air Force junior Sean Temple (Monument, Colo.) set a new Mountain West Conference Championships record in the men's 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.91. The previous record was 7.95 by Randy Himes (BYU) set in 2000.
BYU junior Micheala Mannova (Dvur Kralov, Czech Republic) set a new Mountain West Conference Championships record in the women's mile with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 4:50.83. The previous record was 4:55.49 by Katie Yemm (Colorado State) set in 2002. Yemm, the winner of the event a year ago, finished second Saturday in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 4:52.03.
Wyoming sophomore Jessica Fox (Burns, Wyo.) set a new Mountain West Conference Championships record in the women's 400-meter dash with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 53.07. The previous record was 53.32 by Michele Davis (UNLV) set in 2002. Her time also ties the Cadet Field House record (Tonya Buford-Bailey {Nike}, 1996).
San Diego State junior Tonette Dyer (Shreveport, La.) set a new SDSU record in the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.42. The previous record was 7.48 by Promise Mose in 2000.
Colorado State sophomore Jake Simpson (Littleton, Colo.) won the men's 60-meter dash title by just hundredths of a second over Wyoming senior Mervin Swaby (Kingston, Jamaica). Simpson's winning time was 6.892 while Swaby boasted a time of 6.897.
BYU senior Jeremy Kemp (Farmington, Utah) claimed his second men's pole vault title in three years with a height of 17' 7". The Cougars finished first, second and third in the event (senior Jeremy Kemp, 17' 7"; sophomore Trent Powell, 17' 7"; and junior Erik Rasmussen, 17' 2 ¾"). The tie for first place was broken by a flip of a coin, as both BYU student-athletes did not wish to continue to break the tie.
MWC Indoor Track & Field Championships Individual Awards
Female High Point Award: Keren Bentzur, New Mexico (30)
Female Outstanding Performance Award: Loree Smith, Colorado State
Female Freshman of the Year: Shanon Meyer, San Diego State
Female Coach of the Year: R. Craig Poole, BYU
Male High Point Award: Mervin Swaby, Wyoming (26)
Male Outstanding Performance Award: Kip Kangogo, BYU
Male Freshman of the Year: Tim Merz, Colorado State
Male Coach of the Year: Del Hessel, Colorado State
