ALBUQUERQUE, N.M./POCATELLO, Idaho - Feb. 5 - Southern Utah Track & Field was split between two venues this weekend, the New Mexico Classic and the Mountain States Games.
Most of the distance runners and sprinters competed in New Mexico, led by freshman Austin West. West raced to a first-place finish in the mile with a top conference time of 4:04.23. His time also ranks third in SUU's all-time mile records.
Nate Jewkes and Dallas Eborn also competed in the mile, finishing sixth and seventh with conference top ten times of 4:12.45 and 4:14.44 respectively.
Ryan Barrus led the men in the 5,000-meters with a first-place time of 14:47.91, ranking fourth in the Summit League. Kevin Robison followed in fifth place with a time of 15:37.99.
Diana Medina-Mitchell and Danielle West led the women in the mile with second- and third-place respective finishes. Medina-Mitchell's time of 4:53.77 ranks top in the Summit League, while West's time of 4:55.19 ranks second. Ashley Gray followed with an eighth-place mile time of 5:01.17, which ranks fifth in the conference.
Madalyn Jones led the way in the 5,000-meters, finishing first with a top-three conference time of 17:24.18. She was followed by Armarose Bailey in sixth-place with a time of 18:12.23, which ranks fourth in the Summit League.
Whitney Curtis and Dayna VanArsdol also competed at UNM, finishing second and third in the 3,000-meters with respective times of 10:12.14 and 10:14.46.
The sprinters were led by Shaun Murray and Jasmine Paicely-Mullins. Murray's 60-meter dash time of 6.92 improved his previous third-place school record, while his 200-meters time of 22.01 ranks fifth in the school records. Both times rank third in the Summit League performance list.
Paicely-Mullins finished first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.69, improving her previous third-place SUU record.
Clinton Rhoton and Andrew Cesal led the men's distance squad in Idaho, finishing third and sixth in the mile with times of 4:14.54 and 4:45.88 respectively.
Lindsay Holmes finished first for the T-Birds in the women's mile, recording a fourth-place time of 5:34.15. Kaylee Coates and Lizzy Butler finished in fifth and sixth place consecutively in the 800-meter run, recording times of 2:17.67 and 2:19.24 respectively.
Shelli Richardson led the field in the 3,000-meters, finishing first with a time of 10:10.27.
The throwers were led by Chris Johnson, whose shot put mark of 54-4 ranks second in the school records. Kayla Kovar finished first in the shot put with a 49-11.25 toss.
Stephen Wilson finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 43-9, while Kyle Kopp finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 22-0.75. Zane Hunzeker finished sixth in the pole vault, clearing a height of 14-11.
Chelsea Morley-Atkinson led in the women's jumps, tying for third place in the high jump with a height of 5-1.75
The T-Birds will split between the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash. and the NAU Invitational in Flagstaff, Ariz. next weekend. The team will then take a two-week break from competition to prepare for the Summit League Championship on Feb. 24-25.
All times have been adjusted for altitude.
