Indoor Track and Field Notes - Feb. 8
PDF of Release
Ogden, Utah (Feb. 8, 2011) - Big Sky teams enter what will serve for most as their last weekend of competition and last shot at conference qualifiers before league championships. Each school’s lineups will be chosen by its respective coaches and the events will be held Feb. 25-26 in Pocatello, Idaho. Last weeks stellar performances will be hard to top this weekend after seeing Montana State’s Patrick Casey break the four-minute mile barrier, pre-altitude adjusted, setting a conference, school, and field house record with a time of 3:54.59 (3:59.76 before adjustment). His time was also a NCAA automatic qualifying mark and currently leads the nation by over a second. Montana’s Katrina Drennen crossed the finish line first in the mile event with a time of 4:43.30 to lead the conference and rank No. 16 in the nation. Her times in the mile and in her first-place 800 meters finish were career bests. Eastern Washington’s Erica Chaney smashed her school’s record in the shot put, posting a mark of 51-7. The mark leads the conference and is currently ranked No. 25 in the nation. Idaho State field athletes had a good weekend with Sam Pierson meeting his conference leading mark in the pole vault for a third straight week, keeping his position at No. 8 in Division I. Kylee Gleason set the school record in the pole vault, clearing 13-01.50 to lead the conference. Weber State standout Amber Henry put a No. 2 league qualifying mark on the list with her first performance in the 800 meters. Her time of 2:11.36 is the seventh best in Wildcats women’s indoor 800 meter history. Mike Phillips won the 400 meter event at the Boise Invite in a season best time of 48.47 and is also sitting at second-best in the Big Sky rankings. Northern Arizona was victorious in their home meet last weekend in Flagstaff, Ariz. The men’s team garnered six more conference qualifiers while the women added two more. Portland State continued in its consistency in events like the 60 meter dash for the women and the 800 meters event for the men. Northern Colorado’s Kelly Coomes competed in her first ever pentathlon over the weekend, posting a score of 3,197 to place eleventh in the conference. Sacramento State had a bye this week.