Results
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (May 12, 2017) – On a day where several teams made big steps, it was the Weber State Wildcats surpassing them all. With one day remaining at the Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships, presented by Red Lion Hotels Corporation, Weber State leads both the men’s and women’s team standings.
The Wildcat women had a huge day, winning individual titles in three events, adding one more all-conference finish and totaling 56 points. Ellie Child got WSU off to a good start, rolling to a win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:14.21. Then the Wildcats got victories from two different throw events, with Natasha Powell taking the shot put (50-4) and Whitney Fowers winning the javelin by nearly 10 feet (154-7).
Hailey Whetten had a runner-up finish in the 10,000 to add eight points to the mix for WSU, while the Wildcats had five other athletes score points, including two more in the steeplechase along with a 4-5-6 finish in the high jump. WSU also added in some scoring implications, with Tawnie Moore having the top 100-meter hurdle prelim time of 13.48 to rank sixth all-time in Big Sky history.
On the men’s side, Weber State grabbed a slight edge in the team standings with 44 points after a dominant showing in the steeplechase along with three all-conference performances overall. Over half of the Wildcats’ points came in the steeple, as Luca Sinn headed a 1-2-4-6 showing by WSU in the event. Sinn ran a time of 8:54.95, while Jordan Cross followed his teammate in 8:59.90 in what was a 26-point event for WSU.
Nathan Dunivan added six points for WSU taking third in the discus (173-8), while Justin Herbert picked up five more in the hammer. Making big scoring implications was Alex Reece, who had the top times in both the 100 (10.51) and 200 (20.89) for the Wildcats.
On the heels of Weber State on both sides is meet host Sacramento State, holding 50 points on the women’s side and 43 on the men’s. Montana is third on the women’s side, while the NAU men rank third.
The defending champions on both sides, NAU had a couple athletes show their championship form early on with a pair of meet records. Adam Keenan started it off defending his hammer throw title while breaking his own meet and Big Sky all-time record with a toss of 230-3. Then Shanice McPherson continued her long jump dominance with a championship record of 20-10. McPherson now owns both the all-time and championship records in the long jump indoors and outdoors.
The hometown Hornets added two more wins to its total of four on the week thus far. Michael Turner exploded for a personal-best leap of 25-8 to win the long jump while moving into ninth in Big Sky history. Then Candice Dominguez claimed a title in the high jump with a clearance of 5-10 ½.
Southern Utah made a late charge into the standings Friday, starting with Jayson Kovar winning his second straight discus championship while putting over 10 feet on the rest of the field with a throw of 190-10. Runners-up in the event to NAU at the past three Big Sky meets, SUU put that streak to rest in a big way with a 1-2 finish in the 10,000. Running in his first career 10K, Mike Tate had a strong finishing kick to win in 30:28.78 while his teammate Matt Wright followed in 30:29.85.
Other individual champions crowned on the day included Eastern Washington’s Erin Clark (pole vault, 13-0 ¾) and Montana State’s Alyssa Snyder (10K, 35:23.85).
The final day of the Big Sky Outdoor Track & Field Championships will start at 10 a.m. PT Saturday, while running events start at 12:15 p.m.