CEDAR CITY, Utah - Apr. 28 - SUU Track & Field concluded
a busy weekend at Eccles Coliseum with a successful dual meet against Utah
Valley. The T-Birds broke into the record books and recorded several personal
best finishes as they took on the Wolverines at home. The Coliseum also played
host to Southern Utah's annual high school meet.
"It's good to see such strong performances by the athletes,"
assistant coach Nate Ott said. "It gives us a lot of confidence as we go into
the conference championship."
Thrower Kayla Kovar led the Thunderbirds with three
first-place finishes in the hammer, discus and shot put, and with a personal
record in the discus and hammer. Kovar's discus mark of 165-7 set a new all-time best record
for Southern Utah, while her hammer mark of 191-1 places second in the school's
record books. Kovar's shot put toss of 50-3.50 also earned a first-place
finish.
Sadi Hoyt also competed in the hammer throw, recording a
personal best toss of 168-10 and also ranking among the top-ten school records.
Whitney Fairbanks, Cheyenne Thatcher and Sarah Swalberg represented the T-Birds
in the javelin, recording personal best marks of 139-8, 129-9, and 125-2.
The men were led in throws by Phillipe Renaud, who won the
hammer throw with a personal best mark of 164-10 and improved his previous
school record. Cody Olsen dominated the javelin with a first-place mark of
199-5, followed by Chris Johnson in second with a 176-1 toss.
The Thunderbirds also took the titles in several of the
jumps, including a first-place finish in the women's pole vault by Chelsea
Morley-Atkinson with a height of 10-11.75. Wade Nielson led the men's high jump
with a mark of 6-6.75, while Kyle Kopp won the long jump with a mark of 23-8.
Kopp's mark also improves his previous school record.
Kopp and Nielson also competed in the sprints, leading
Southern Utah in the 200-meter dash with first- and second-place times of 22.22
and 22.39 respectively. Preston Myers earned a victory in the 100-meter dash
with a first-place time of 10.61, also breaking into the record books with a
personal best. The men also raced to a first-place finish over UVU in the
4x100-meter relay with a time of 41.86.
Jasmine Paicely-Mullins led the sprints on the women's side
with a first-place time of 11.93 in the 100-meter dash, followed closely by
Lindsay Terry in second with a 12.12 finish. Paicely-Mullins' time ranks second
in the school record books, while Terry's time ranks eighth.
The distance team was led by Kaylee Coates in the 800-meter
run, with a first-place time of 2:16.22, while Sylvia Bedford and Madalyn Jones
led in the women's 3,000-meter run. Bedford and Jones finished first and second
with respective times of 10:14.60 and 10:17.25.
Clinton Rhoton won the 3,000-meters on the men's side,
crossing the finish line in 8:44.06, while Devan Antczak led SUU in the mile
with a second-place time of 4:22.47.
Distance leaders Cameron Levins and Diana Medina-Mitchell
were not able to compete at home, as they are on the road to compete in
Stanford's Payton Jordan Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sunday.
The rest of the team will now take a small break from
competition as Southern Utah prepares for the Summit League Outdoor
Championship, set for May 10-12 in Fargo, N.D.
