CEDAR CITY, Utah - Feb. 24 - Southern Utah track and field will conclude the regular season this weekend at the Big Sky Conference Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz. The championship meet is set to take place Thursday through Saturday.
“We have a very competitive conference,” head coach, Eric Houle, said. “This conference has twelve teams and only the best athletes get to compete, no one sits the bench. Everyone that races, earned the right to race and it is really competitive.”
Athletes to look out for this weekend include Alex Anderson. Anderson placed second last year indoors and first at the outdoor championships in the triple jump. Mid-distance athletes, Eric Sandall and George Espino, both have high rankings in the conference. Sandall is ranked third in the 800 while Espino, a freshman at Southern Utah, is ranked just behind in fourth place. Sandall is the defending outdoor track 800-meter champion. Sprinter, Arnold Carrillo, comes into the conference championship with a first place ranking in the 400-meter dash.
Distance athletes, Hayden Hawks and Nate Jewkes, top the rankings in the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter runs. They are both slated to compete in both of those events this weekend. Hawks is currently ranked fifth in the 5,000 and 11th in the 3,000, while Jewkes ranks sixth in the 5,000 and 14th in the 3,000.
Mike Tate leads the Thunderbirds in the mile. Earlier this season, Tate just missed the title of sub four by .07 seconds in Seattle Wash. He is ranked second in the conference in the mile and has a national ranking of 31st. This weekend he will race head to head against Montana State's, Cristian Soratos, currently ranked first in the nation.
“One the men's side, we are as strong as we were last year,” Houle continued. “NAU, the defending conference champions, and Montana State are two tough competitors. We have a good chance to place in the top five because of the athletes that have returned. We are strong across the board in the distance races and also have athletes in the jumps and sprints.”
On the women's side, Thunderbird fans should watch out for distance athlete, Ashley Hawks. She currently tops the charts with second place rankings in the mile and 3,000-meter run. Hawks has raced to impressive finishes this season racing to personal bests in both the mile and 3,000-meter. Sprinter, Jamilla Pullum, will also be a key athlete this weekend as she will compete in the 200-, 400-, and 4x400-meter relay.
“The women's team isn't as strong as last years team,” Houle, said. “We lost two major athletes, Shaye Maurer-Springall and Kayla Kovar who scored major points for us last year. Jamilla Pullum, the women's 4x400-meter relay, Ashley Hawks, and Hayley Harris are those athletes that we expect to score points for us this weekend. Paige Cardiff may also score points even though she is ranked 16th. There is only two seconds between her and the top spots in the conference. Although we aren't as strong, we hope to be there down the road because we have a fairly young team. We hope these are the times that people rise and become new athletes.”
Other athletes to watch out for include freshman, Justin Lewis, Haley Harris, Paige Cardiff, and multi athlete Stephen Wilson.
The indoor season will end, for most of the Thunderbirds, after the Big Sky Championships. Mike Tate has a chance to continue to the National Championships on March 13-15 held in Fayetteville, Ark. The team will then compete at the outdoor season-opening UNLV track Classic in Las Vegas, Nev. on March 20-21.
