Read this story at CSURams.com
Jefferson Abbey, Mostafa Hassan, Aaliyah Pete and Emily Romo of the Colorado State track & field team won individual titles in their respective events as each of the Rams’ women’s and men’s teams finished second at the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships from Ralph Maughan Track Stadium.
CSU’s women’s team finished with 134 points, while the Rams’ men tallied 165.5 points. San Diego State won the conference title on the women’s side with 159.5 points, while Air Force placed first in men’s competition with 218.5 points.
The Rams finished with 10 individual champions over the four-day meet. The first to claim an individual title on Saturday was Pete, who won the women’s shot put with a MW Championships record and facility record mark of 55-8.5. With her fourth outdoor title on Saturday, Pete stands alone as the only athlete in MW history – in women’s or men’s track & field – to win a combined seven shot put titles between outdoor and indoor competition. Pete is also the only athlete -women’s or men’s – to win four outdoor shot put titles.
Hassan topped the MW men’s shot put field by nearly eight feet to give the Rams a sweep of women’s and men’s shot put competition. The Cairo, Egypt native heaved the shot put 66-4.5 (20.23m) for his second outdoor shot put title (fourth overall, including two indoor titles) and set a new MW Championships record.
The next Ram to claim an individual title after Pete on Saturday was Romo, who ran a remarkable final 100 meters to run down San Diego State’s Simone Glenn at the finish line. Romo was several meters back of Glenn coming off the final turn, but erupted down the stretch to edge Glenn by one hundredth of a second. Romo’s winning time of 53.55 sets a new CSU record.
Abbey won the men’s 5,000 meters, becoming CSU’s first individual MW champion in the event since 200 (Mike Klass). Abbey’s winning time was 15:10.68. Abbey made his move in the final lap and used a burst of speed over the final two turns to separate from the competition down the stretch. On the women’s side of the 5,000, MW 3,000-meter steeplechase champion Janelle Lincks placed third with a time of 16:24.25 (unofficial altitude conversion of 16:00.42). Her time ranks third in program history.
Cole Rockhold (15:18.62) also scored for CSU in the men’s 5,000, placing fourth despite doubling up on distance races with the 1,500 meters earlier on Saturday. Rockhold also placed fourth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:48.12, topping the previous facility record. Eli Oftedal also scored for the Rams in the 1,500 meters, placing eighth with a time of 3:51.52. In the women’s 1,500 meters, Roxy Trotter (4:30.08) placed fifth, while Dominique Ward (4:30.14) finished in sixth. The top middle distance performance of the day on the women’s side came from Macy Kreutz, who placed second in the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.20. Kreutz’s time ranks third in CSU history.
The Rams got a strong start on each of the women’s and men’s side with top-three finishes in the 4×100 relays, the first events of the day. CSU’s team of Romo, Abby Simpson, Leah Fair and Lorenda Holston clocked a program-record time of 44.79 to take third place, while the Rams’ men placed second with a time of 41.14. The Rams added a fifth-place finish in the 4×400 relay on the men’s side (3:21.29), as well as a seventh-place finish in the 4×400 relay on the women’s side (3:50.52).
Holston scored additional points for the CSU women in the 100-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 13.41 for fifth place. Fair scored points for the Rams in two events individually, placing seventh in the 100 meters (11.95) and eighth (24.48) in the 200 meters. Ronald Sayles scored in each of the 100 and 200 on the men’s side, placing eighth in each with respective times of 10.90 and 21.75.
In men’s hurdles races, Jace Horak (14.49) and Hunter Price (14.61) placed sixth and seventh in the 110-meter hurdles, respectively. Darius Smith ran a season-best 52.53 to place sixth in the 400-meter hurdles, while Jalen Hunter placed eighth. On the women’s side of the 400-meter hurdles, each of Katie Werman (fourth) and Emma Kratzberg (eighth) scored for CSU. Werman finished in 1:01.32, the No. 9 time on CSU’s all-time outdoor list.
Collin Scheer scored for the Rams in his third different jumping event of the meet, as he placed fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 48-5.25 (14.76m). Daniel Baumgardt leapt 46-2.75 (14.09m) for seventh place on Saturday. On the women’s side, McKenzie Wright jumped 39-2.25 (11.94m) to place sixth, while Tarah Vijayasarathy placed eighth with a mark of 38-1 (11.62m). Nick Meihaus placed fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 15-7.75 (4.77m) to round out CSU scorers.
Featured Image Credit: CSU Rams T&F/XC, Twitter