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2008 MWC Outdoor Track and Field Championships Preview BYU Men and Women Look to Win Consecutive Titles
May 13, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - The 2008 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships begin Wednesday, May 14. Live stats will be available online by visiting http://www.sml1.com/recordtiming/mwc/2008outdoor/. For the first time in history, TCU's Lowdon Track and Field Complex will serve as the host site for the MWC Championships, which will run from Wednesday, May 14 through Saturday, May 17, 2008. Air Force senior and two-time Conference champion Travis Picou looks to repeat his 2005 performance by winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, entering this week's action with the third-fastest 200-meter time in the league this season (21.08). Sophomore Sara Neubauer holds Academy records for the shot put in both indoor and outdoor competition and is a previous All-Conference honoree in the shot put and discus. She also enters the week ranked third in the league in shot put with a mark of 50'-4.50" (15.35m). The BYU men will be looking to win their ninth consecutive MWC title, while the Cougar women aim for their eighth Conference crown in nine years. Cougar distance runner Kyle Perry comes into the weekend having been named the 2008 MWC Indoor Track and Field Student-Athlete of the Year. He currently holds second in the Conference for both the 1,500-meter (3:44.71) and the 3,000-meter (13:55.81), while pole-vaulter Ashley McAllister has twice cleared 12'-0.50", qualifying for NCAA Regionals.
Colorado State has trailed closely behind BYU the past several years and both Ram squads have their sights set on overtaking the Cougars for the first time in Mountain West history. Eight Rams currently hold season-best times in the league for the men's 400-meter, 800-meter, 400-meter hurdles, hammer throw and decathlon and the women's high jump, shot put, discus and heptathlon, with perennial top-five finishers Jason Schutz and Missy Faubus expected to lead their respective squads in the throwing events. New Mexico's Jeremy Johnson automatically qualified for the 2008 NCAA Championship this season with a 10,000-meter time of 28:33.08, establishing himself as the third-fastest runner in all-time MWC history in that event. On the women's side, senior Ariel Burr returns for the last time in her career to lead the Lobo relay teams to victory, having already led the 4x100 team to their first regional-qualifying time earlier this season. Stephanie Bagan is the San Diego State entrant to watch in the women's pole vault. The sophomore is currently tied for fourth in the nation, according to TrackShark.com, and owns the second-best vault mark in Aztec history and the top MWC mark this season at 13'-11.25" (4.25m). TCU is led by sprinter Virgil Hodge, who currently holds the No. 8 time in the nation in the 100-meter dash (11.26) and the No. 2 time in the nation in the 200-meter dash (22.76), according to TrackShark.com. Senior Jonathan Jackson leads the TCU men, having won the triple jump at the 2008 MWC Indoor Track and Field Championships and placing second in the long jump. UNLV's distance runner Charlotte Browning returns after collecting MWC Freshman of the Year honors at the 2007 MWC Outdoor Championships. She currently holds sixth in the league in the 1,500-meter with a time of 4:28.53. Holding second in the Conference in the women's 400-meter hurdles this season, Chelsea Shapard will be a force to reckon with for Utah. The junior broke her own school record in the event previously this season, winning the Arkansas Twilight with a time of 58.07. Wyoming has a powerhouse in senior Kate Burton, who holds the best mark in the league and eighth-best in the nation, according to TrackShark.com, in the hammer throw (209'-8.00" [63.92m]). On the men's side, Vashone West is an automatic NCAA regional qualifier in the 100-meter dash. His time of 10.44 currently sits in fourth in the Conference. At last year's MWC championships, three men's and four women's records were broken, while 32 total performances ranked among the top five in MWC championships history. BYU won five individual titles and earned 214 points overall to capture the men's team crown, while the Cougar women finished with 195 points and four individual titles for their crown. |
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