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MWC Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week - Update
BYU's Josh Rohatinsky and Whitney McDonald, CSU's Emily Pearson, and UNM's Jeremy Johnson and Katie Coronado honored.
April 17, 2007 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - BYU senior Josh Rohatinsky and New Mexico senior Jeremy Johnson have been named Mountain West Conference Men's Outdoor Track and Field Co-Athletes of the Week, while BYU sophomore Whitney McDonald, Colorado State junior Emily Pearson and Lobo sophomore Katie Coronado have been named MWC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Tri-Athletes of the Week. Rohatinksy, a Provo, Utah, native, broke a 23-year-old BYU school and MWC all-time record in the 5,000 meter run at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., last Friday. His time of 13:25.53 surpassed two-time Olympian and current Cougar distance coach Ed Eyestone's school record by seven seconds and the all-time conference mark (formerly held by New Mexico's Matt Gonzalez) by just under 10 seconds. Rohatinsky's clocking in the event is currently the second-fastest in the nation. Johnson, an Albuquerque, N.M., native, recorded the third-fastest time in MWC history in his first career 10,000-meter race at the Mt. Sac Relay. He crossed the finish line in a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 28:47.76, which was less than three seconds off the NCAA automatic qualifying mark. Johnson finished ninth overall and third among collegians in a field of 57 runners. His time is also currently the ninth-fastest in the nation. McDonald also set a new BYU school and all-time conference standard in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 15:44.55 at the Mt. Sac Relays. Her time in the race broke former Cougar Michaela Mannova's school and MWC record clocking by five seconds and ranks third in the nation as of April 18. Pearson, a La Junta, Colo., product, won the heptathlon at the California Invitational in Azusa, Calif., last weekend. She posted a career-best 5,204 points, which is an NCAA provisional mark and the third best heptathlon point total in CSU school history. She collected career-best marks in the 200-meter dash (24.89), 800-meter run (2:24.08) and the high jump (5'-4.25" [1.63m]) during the course of the meet. Pearson took the lead during the last event of the first day, the 200 meters, and never trailed again on the way to the victory. Coronado, from Ruidoso, N.M., broke an 11-year-old UNM javelin record with a personal-best throw of 169'-10.00" (51.77) on the way to a second-place finish at the UTEP Invitational in El Paso, Texas, last Saturday. She surpassed the previous Lobo school record by over four feet and moved up to third on the all-time MWC list for the event. Her mark is currently the sixth-best in the nation.
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