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Mountain West Championship Up Next for Colorado State
Meet to be held May 12-15 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
May 4, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State's track & field teams will not compete this weekend as the Mountain West Conference Championship will begin on Wed., May 12 in Las Vegas. Defense Of Their Crown: Several Rams will try to defend their titles from last season's Mountain West Outdoor Championship. Junior Mike Nicks and junior Jacob Benson won the steeplechase and high jump last season, respectively, and senior John Woods won both the 100 and 200 meters in 2002. Junior Loree Smith redshirted the 2003 season, but won both the discus and hammer in 2002. The 2003 season was the first time in six seasons a Ram had not won the women's discus at the conference championship. The Rams will also look to reclaim the men's 1500 meters title, as a Ram won the title every year from 1996 to 2002 before BYU stole the title in 2003. Another One Bites The Dust: The fourth school record of the season fell late on Friday evening as freshman Janay DeLoach jumped 20-1.75 in the long jump to break the previous record of 20-0 held by Kelly Delph from 1990. At the Jack Christiansen Invitational, senior Christine Ahn broke her own school record in the pole vault after clearing 12-8. She breaks her record of 12-4.5 from the 2001 season. Earlier this season, Loree Smith broke the school and Mountain West record in the hammer for the second straight week after winning the Texas Relays with a throw of 220-0. She breaks the old record of 193-10 held by Shelly Borrman from 1998. Freshman Magnus Lohse broke the Colorado State record in the shot put at the Rob Upton Invitational. In his first outdoor collegiate event, Lohse threw 60-7.25 to break the old record of 58-8.5 held by both Tony Sotelo in 1999 and current senior Jeremy Graff from 2002. Cardinal Invitational Recap: One school record fell as the Rams competed at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford. On Friday night, Janay DeLoach broke the school record in the long jump after leaping 20-1.75, breaking the old record of 20-0 by Kelly Delph from 1990. Juniors Michelle Carman and Colleen Blair finished third and fourth, respectively in the 5000 meters. Christine Ahn won the pole vault after clearing 12-5.5 and Keela Niemeyer was second in the discus throw and third in the shot put. Niemeyer threw 157-4 in the discus and 51-2.75 in the shot put -- which is a new career-high for her. Loree Smith kept her unbeaten streak alive in the hammer, winning the event with a throw of 209-10. Senior Bill Michel finished seventh in the 5000 meters with a time of 14:05.43 to qualify for NCAA Regionals. Modrall Sperling Recap: Junior Josh Glaab won the men's 5000 meters at New Mexico for the Rams, but was informed later by officials he was inadvertently cut one lap short, so his time is unusable. Sophomore Paul Michel finished second in the 1500 meters and regionally qualified after running a 3:52.44, which converts to 3:47.39 after the altitude adjustment. Freshman Drew Morano ran a 47.26 to win the 400 meters, posting a career-best time. Senior Brian Kelly was third overall and the second collegian in the 800 meters after crossing the tape in 1:51.86. Teammates Ryan Lowen and Joey Alzola were right behind him in fourth and fifth, respectively. Sophomore Justin Hazzard finished second in the 400 meter hurdles, regionally qualifying with his time of 51.85. The 4x400 meter relay team finished second, posting a season-best time of 3:12.96. In the hammer, James Cale 198-6, Nate Heyrman 190-4, Jeremy Graff 189-4 and Jace Rivera 185-5, finished third through sixth respectively, and were second through fifth collegiately after Adam Trainor -- who is redshirting this season for the Rams -- won the event. Chris Ahlgrim won the javelin with a toss of 200-7, while Magnus Lohse (58-3) and Graff (55-11.75) took the top two spots in the shot put. Jason Fearheiley placed third in the discus, while Cale was fourth and Heyrman was fifth and they were second through fourth, respectively among collegians as former Ram standout Brian Trainor won the event. On the women's side, senior Katie Yemm won the 800 meters after running a 2:13.39. Senior Zuzana Krajciova finished second in the 400 meter hurdles, running the event for the first time this season and clocking in 1:03.08. The trio of Tonya Cure, Katie Lloyd and Amanda Huddleston took the top three spots in the long jump, with Cure winning after leaping 18-1.5 for a career-best jump. Huddleston then won the triple jump after leaping a season-best 39-3.75 and Katie Hansen won the discus with her throw of 163-11. Nationally Ranked: The women's team is tied for 19th in this week's Trackwire 25 poll. The Rams are tied with conference foe San Diego State, while BYU is tied for 17th. Both the Rams and the Aztecs have 13 points, while the Cougars sit with 14. The highest the Rams have been ranked this season is 15th, which was last week. UCLA is first in the poll with 68 points. Career Bests: Several Rams recorded season best times or marks over the weekend. Those Rams include: Michelle Carman, 5000 meters; Kat Cirone, long jump; Tonya Cure, 100 hurdles, long jump; Janay DeLoach, long jump; Melissa Harms, shot put; Jill McCormick, shot put; Sara Taylor, shot put; Matt Cianciulli, 800 meters; Jeremy Graff, hammer; Justin Hazzard, 400 hurdles; Nate Heyrman, hammer; Dave Hoesly, 400 hurdles; Kevin Johnson, 110 hurdles, javelin; Ryan Kirkpatrick, 1500 meters; Ryan Lowen, 800 meters; Brett Melin, 800 meters; Bill Michel, 5000 meters; Drew Morano, 400 meters; Nelson Palacios, 800 meters; Jace Rivera, shot put. USA Qualifying: The 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held July 9-18, 2004 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento. Current Ram Loree Smith has automatically qualified to compete in the hammer and has surpassed the provisional standard in the discus throw. Several former Colorado State athletes have also qualified to have a chance to represent the United States in the next Olympic games. Bryan Berryhill ranks third in the 1500 meters, while Casey Malone is fourth in the discus and Drew Loftin is sixth in the hammer.
Athletes of the Week: Junior Loree Smith has been honored by the
Mountain West Conference office three times this season as the Women's
Track & Field Athlete of the Week. Smith earned the honors on March 31,
April 7 and April 22 after breaking at least one record in each of the
three weeks.
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