Both the BYU men's and women's teams captured the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships Saturday at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex. The Cougar men tallied 214 points to claim their tenth-consecutive title, while the women scored 190 points to earn their eighth crown.
Finishing behind BYU on the men's side was TCU with 139 points. New Mexico came in a close third with 135 points, while Air Force trailed at 124. Colorado State (110) and Wyoming (84) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
For the women, TCU scored 125 points for the runner-up position and Colorado State came in with 95.50 points for third-place. San Diego State (87.50), Utah (76), and New Mexico (75.50) placed fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Air Force finished seventh with 62 points, while UNLV (eighth, 53) and Wyoming (ninth, 49.50) rounded out the final positions.
Final Team scores (Women):
1. BYU - 190; 2. TCU - 125; 3. Colorado State - 95.50; 4. San Diego State - 87.50; 5. Utah - 76; 6. New Mexico - 75.50; 7. Air Force - 62; 8. UNLV - 53; 9. Wyoming - 49.50
Final Team scores (Men):
1. BYU - 214; 2. TCU - 139; 3. New Mexico - 135; 4. Air Force - 124; 5. Colorado State - 110; 6. Wyoming - 84
Coaches of the Year:
Women: Craig Poole, BYU
Men: Mark Robison, BYU
High Point Performers:
Women: Karoline Koehler, San Diego State (30.50 points)
Men: Kyle Perry, BYU (21.25 points)
Outstanding Performance:
Women: Katie Coronado, New Mexico (Javelin)
Men: Jarrin Solomon, New Mexico (400-meter dash)
2009 MWC Outdoor Track & Field Championships Notes:
TCU's men's 4x100 relay squad clocked a season-best winning time of 39.42, while the TCU women were also victorious with a time of 44.66. The Horned Frogs have now won both the men's and women's 4x100 relay titles for the past four-consecutive years and remain undefeated at the conference championships since joining the league. Both times were track records.
Kyle Perry, a senior from BYU, won his second men's 1,500-meter run with a regional-qualifying time of 3:56.54, after winning the event as a freshman in 2006. He was followed by Colorado State junior Wil Buchanan (3:56.61) and fellow Cougar Miles Batty (3:57.75). On the women's side, BYU swept the top two positions as sophomore Katie Palmer crossed the finish line first in 4:30.58 and freshman Lacey Cramer trailed at 4:33.11 for second place. Ashley Gibson from New Mexico clocked a time of 4:34.37 to finish third.
After clocking a time of 14.44 in the 110-meter hurdles, TCU sophomore Jordan Pitts won his second-consecutive crown in the event. Air Force senior Kellen Curry earned runner-up honors with a time of 14.72, while teammate Bryce Bergman, a freshman, finished third with a time of 14.79.
TCU senior Kishelle Paul won her third 100-meter hurdles title, registering a time of 13.38. Last year's champion in the event, Wyoming senior Shaylee Babitt, finished second (13.52), and UNLV junior Candise Maxwell placed third (13.55).
Blaine Baker, a sophomore from BYU, won his first men's javelin title with a MWC Championship and all-time record distance of 225'-7.00" (68.76m). The heave out-distanced the previous championship record by three feet, four inches. New Mexico senior Anthony Fairbanks was the runner-up for the second-consecutive year with a mark of 223'-7.00" (68.15m). Sophomore Cougar Sean Richardson followed in third (212'-8.00" [64.83m]).
In the second MWC Championships record-breaking performance of the day, New Mexico's Jarrin Solomon won the men's 400-meter dash for the second time in his career with a regional-qualifying time of 45.68. TCU junior Dell Guy placed second (47.06), while BYU freshman Rhyan Atrice finished third (47.14).
TCU sophomore Stormy Harrison won her second shot put title in as many years with a toss of 52'-6.75" (16.02m). The distance is a new track record and qualifies Harrison for NCAA regionals. In second place, Air Force junior Sara Neubauer threw for 50'-10.75" (15.51m), followed by Colorado State senior Missy Faubus in third (50'-0.75" [15.26m]).
Nicole Stone became the first Aztec since 2004 to win the women's 400-meter dash. The junior clocked a track-record 52.81, while defending champion Jessica Clarke, from TCU, finished second at 52.85. Fellow Horned Frog Kristal Juarez came in third with a time of 52.96.
TCU claimed the top five positions in the men's 100-meter dash, with senior Andon Mitchell capturing the crown. Mitchell ran a time of 10.258, with seniors Otis McDaniel (10.260) and Justyn Warner (10.27) following in second and third place, respectively. Freshman Mark Barnes (10.38) placed fourth and sophomore Mychal Dungey (10.39) came in fifth for the Horned Frogs.
After running her personal best in the prelims of the 100-meter dash yesterday, TCU's Jessica Young took the title in the finals with her time of 11.25. Lekeisha Lawson of UNLV improved on her fourth-place finish at the 2008 Outdoor Championships to take the second spot with a time of 11.54. Karoline Koehler finished in third (11.62) for San Diego State.
Utah freshman Langley Iverson cleared the high jump bar at a height of 5'-8.75" (1.75m) to take the championship for Utah for the first time in program history. Wyoming's Johnna Jeffries took second-place honors with a jump of 5'-7.00" (1.70m), improving on her sixth-place finish from a year ago. Ashley Payne of BYU finished third for the second-straight year with the same height due to tie-breaking procedures.
Wyoming sophomore Jeremiah James, who was coming off his first-place finish in the long jump yesterday, continued to dominate the horizontal jumps as he won the triple jump title with a leap of 50'-9.25" (15.47m). Nnamdi Agwu from Colorado State was the runner-up for the second-straight year with his jump of 49'-5.75" (15.08m). Freshman Ty Kirk of New Mexico, who came into the weekend with the best jump in the Conference, finished third with a distance of 48'-8.75" (14.85m).
Colorado State junior Ryan Friese won his first 800-meter title of the outdoor season with his regional-qualifying time of 1:51.24. He becomes the first Ram to win the event since assistant coach Bryan Berryhill did it in 2001. Friese won the title over BYU freshman Justin Hedin, who ran a time of 1:52.16, which was two-tenths of a second ahead of Sean Zurko, the sophomore from TCU (1:52.37).
BYU finished the women's 800-meter run with freshman Lacey Cramer (2:10.22) and sophomore Katie Palmer (2:10.47) placing first and second, respectively. The Cougars continued their dominance in the event, winning with their seventh-straight title and ninth in the ten-year history of the Conference. Ally Romanko of Air Force finished third with a time of 2:11.55.
Utah's Chelsea Shapard became the first ever three-time champion in the 400-meter hurdles with a track-record time of 57.88. She out-kicked TCU senior Meaghan Peoples, who clocked a regional-qualifying time of 59.84, while New Mexico's Kim Perkins improved on her seventh-place finish from a year ago to finish third (60.15). On the men's side, BYU's Bryan Payne took the title with a regional-qualifying time of 51.42, after finishing second at last year's meet. Colorado State's Nigel Joseph took second-place honors with a time of 52.09.
TCU's Mychal Dungey became the fourth-consecutive Horned Frog to win the men's 200-meter dash, with his regional-qualifying and new track-record time of 20.67. New Mexico's Jermaine McQueen and TCU's Otis McDaniel were separated by two-hundredths of a second with their times of 20.83 and 20.85, respectively. It was a clean sweep in the 200-meter dash as TCU's Jessica Young won the race on the women's side with a time of 23.17, which regionally qualifies her for NCAA's and put her name in the record books as the fastest time at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex. Lekeisha Lawson of UNLV finished behind Young for the second event of the day with a time of 23.48.
Bob Low of BYU set a new track record and regional-qualifying mark in the men's pole vault as he cleared the bar set at 17'- 10.50" (5.45m). He was followed by teammate Whitney Neves, who soared 17'-2.75" (5.25m) over the bar. Air Force's Nick Frawley came in third with a height of 16'-10.75" (5.15m). All three were regional qualifiers.
New Mexico's Jacob Kirwa became the first Lobo to win the men's 5,000-meter run since Matt Gonzales in 2004. Kirwa's track record and regional-qualifying time of 14:47.87 was two seconds faster than teammate Chris Barnicle, who clocked a time of 14:49.21. Air Force's Sean Houseworth improved on his fifth-place finish from a year ago to take third place honors (14:50.07).
Daniel Lawson of BYU became the sixth Cougar to win the men's shot put with his regional-qualifying mark of 57'-11.25" (17.66m). TCU's Marcus Cannon had a personal-best career throw of 54'-10.25" (16.72m) to place second, while Ian Lettow of Colorado State came in third (54'-7.25" [16.64m]).
New Mexico's Katie Coronado, a senior, became the second woman in MWC history to capture three career javelin crowns. She bested the field with a distance of 174'-6.00" (53.18m). BYU senior Ilze Gribule finished second behind Coronado (167'-7.00" [51.08m]), while Air Force freshman Paige Blackburn placed third (151'-4.00" [46.12m]).
BYU's Cecily Lemmon won her second event of the weekend in the women's 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:37.11. The New Mexico duo of Nicky Archer (17:51.74) and Laura Bowerman (17:58.02) placed second and third, respectively.
On her way to capturing the Women's High Point Award, San Diego State senior Karoline Koehler leapt 43'-4.25" (13.21m) to finish first in the triple jump. Neidra Covington repeated as the runner-up after finishing second at the 2008 MWC meet with a distance of 41'-9.75" (12.74m), while San Diego State's Kai Wheeler rounded out the medal recipients in third (40'-11.50" [12.48m]).
The TCU men won their third-consecutive 4x400-meter relay (3:08.18), holding off New Mexico (3:11.82), who finished in second. Colorado State earned third-place honors after clocking a time of 3:13.69. On the women's side, BYU captured their first 4x400 relay title in MWC history with a time of 3:36.56, while TCU (3:38.47) and Utah (3:38.96) followed in second and third places, respectively.
