Men’s track and field take first in WAC Outdoor Championship, women place third

Finishing with a score of 288 points, the UVU men’s track and field team took first and earned the title of WAC champions at the WAC Outdoor Championships, held March 9-11. The score broke records for most points scored in WAC Championship history, set in 1991 by BYU, and most points scored in any WAC meet, set in 1966.

The men’s team beat out second place Grand Canyon and third place University of Missouri- Kansas City, who earned 190.5 and 98 points respectively. The women’s team placed third overall with a score of 145.5 points, placing after Grand Canyon and New Mexico State, who scored 203.5 and 191.5 points respectively.

Junior Andre Jones placed first in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.42 seconds and in the 400m hurdles with a time of 51.37 seconds. His performance earned him the Outstanding Athlete Award.

Sean Mcgetrick, a senior, finished second in the 110m hurdles following Jones closely with a time of 14.44 seconds. Mcgetrick also placed fourth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 52.98 seconds.

Earning the High Point Athlete Award, senior Daven Russell placed first in the shot put with a mark of 18.28m. Russell earned second place honors in the hammer throw with a mark of 58.65m and third place in the discus with a mark of 48.95m. Senior Sean York placed second in the javelin with a throw of 63.95m.

In the 1500m race, senior Brandon Edmonson placed first with a time of 3:53.30 followed by sophomore teammate Anthony Ocegueda in second place with a time of 3:54.64.

In the high jump, freshman Jeffrey Duvinston earned top marks with a jump of 2.08m. Senior Jordan Carder finished first in the 200m with a time of 21.12 seconds.

Junior Kevin Lynch earned first place in the 5000m race with a time of 15:04.84. Junior Adrian Jones took first in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:02.25. Fellow junior Alex Lawrence placed first in the pole vault with a winning mark of 2.13m, .4m higher than the next mark.

Junior Albert MacArthur finished first overall in the triple jump with a mark of 15.75m, 1.45m ahead of the next-highest mark. In the long jump MacArthur placed second, jumping 7.44m.

The women’s team, originally projected to place fourth in the competition, exceeded expectations with their third place title.

Seniors Aisha Graham and Savannah Neuberger topped off the list with their first and second place finish in the 800m race, with times of 2:08.80 and 2:08.83 respectively. In the 1500m finals the roles were flipped when Neuberger placed first with a time 4:28.11 and Graham placed second with a time of 4:28.39.

Hannah Branch, a sophomore, placed first in the 5000m with a time of 17:58.95 and in the 10,000m with a time of 36:23.71.

In the high jump, sophomore Briana Dusenberry and junior Tiera Orr earned second and third honors in the high jump, with marks of 1.72m and 1.66m respectively.

Coach Scott Houle was awarded the Men’s Coach of the Year Award for the WAC following the meet. The Wolverines are still awaiting final results to see which athletes will compete in the NCAA West Preliminary meet held in Sacramento, California on May 23-25.