Colorado State University Athletics
Track & Field Preview: Trio of Meets
4/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Outdoor Track & Field
April 26, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Going Their Separate Ways: The Rams will split into three squads this weekend. Seniors Paul Michel and Josh Glaab will be going to the distance-specialized Cardinal Invitational, hosted by Stanford, while a half-dozen or so will be going to the prestigious Drake Relays and the rest of the team will head to the 16th annual Don Kirby Invitational, hosted by New Mexico. The Rams then have a final tune-up at the Air Force Twilight before heading to the Mountain West Championships May 10-13, hosted this year by BYU in Provo.
JC Record Falls: Senior Amanda Huddleston-Miller broke her own record in the triple jump at the Jack Christiansen Invitational on Saturday. She won the event with a jump of 40-11.5, breaking her Invite record of 40-11 from last season.
Making A Name: Junior Katie Lloyd is one of the best athletes to ever compete for the Green and Gold. She holds the school record in the heptathlon with 5,266 points and also ranks in the top 10 in school history in the high jump (3rd, 5-8.75), long jump (3rd, 19-8), 100 meter hurdles (6th, 14.10) and javelin (7th, 133-4). The only other athlete in school history to rank in the top 10 in five different events is Elizabeth Toman (1998-2001), who ranks in the high jump, shot put, discus, javelin and heptathlon. Grettel Miller (1997-98) and Wendy Koenig-Knudson (1973-76) both rank in four events.
Hitting The Mark: The Rams had eight athletes regionally qualify in nine events on Saturday, bringing the season totals to 18 athletes in 26 events. First time qualifiers this week were sophomore Drew Morano in the 400 meters, Paul Michel in the 1500 meters and Katie Lloyd in the high jump.
Well-Rounded: Of the 19 individual events contested during the year, the Rams have at least one qualifier, either male or female, in 14 events, with only the 100, 5000 and 10,000 meters, pole vault and javelin not having a CSU representative qualified and no one on the team has run a 10K.
The High Life: Colorado State has the top four high jumpers in the Mountain West Conference women's rankings. Junior Rae Backes and Katie Lloyd have both cleared 5-8.75 for the best mark in the league, while sophomores Anne McLaughlin and Tonya Cure have cleared 5-7. The only conference champion for the Rams in the outdoor high jump is Liz Toman from 2000, while Backes won the first indoor title for CSU back earlier this year.
The Thrower's Dozen: The Rams have 13 qualifying marks in the shot put, discus and hammer for both men and women. It is the second-highest total in NCAA Division I, trailing only the 15 marks by the Missouri. The men have four qualifiers in the shot put and two in the discus and hammer, while the women have three in the hammer and two in the discus.
1. Missouri 15
2. COLORADO STATE 13
3. North Carolina 12
4. California 11
5. Akron 10
Memphis 10
Minnesota 10
UCLA 10
The Long Shot: Colorado State has three men who have thrown the shot put 58-10 or farther in competition this season. All three, junior Magnus Lohse (8th, 62-11.25), senior Matt McKinney (27th, 59-6.25) and junior Nate Heyrman (30th, 58-10) rank among the top 30 in the country and the Rams are the only team in the nation to have three ranked among the top 30. The Rams also have two (sophomore Jason Schutz and McKinney) ranked among the top 26 in the discus.
Program Announces New Coaches: With Head Coach Del Hessel announcing his retirement, Colorado State University has named assistant coach Brian Bedard as the new head coach for 2006-07. Another addition to the staff for next season will be 10-time All-American Bryan Berryhill -- who will coach the cross country teams and the distance runners during the track seasons. Bedard has been an assistant coach at CSU for 17 years, while Berryhill has been a volunteer assistant the last two.
Leading The Way: In the Mountain West Conference rankings, the Rams have the best mark in eight events. Junior Justin Hazzard has the best time in the league in the 110 hurdles and junior Danielle Korb and Paul Michel lead the 1500 meters. Magnus Lohse has the best shot put this season, while Nate Heyrman leads the way in the hammer and junior Kevin Johnson leads in the decathlon. Rae Backes has the best high jump this season and senior Katie Hansen is ranked first in the discus.
Honored: Katie Hansen, Matt McKinney and Magnus Lohse have all been named Mountain West athlete of the week this season.
Cracking The Top 10: In competition over the weekend, seven student-athletes posted eight marks placing them in the top 10 performers in school history in their respective events. Katie Lloyd is now sixth in the 100 hurdles and seventh in the javelin, while sophomore Emily Pearson is ninth in the hurdles. Freshmen Erin Weber and Ashlee Velez rank seventh and eighth, respectively. Sophomore Stacey Poulos moved up to fifth in the hammer, while senior Jaimee Troth is now seventh. Matt McKinney improved his second place ranking in the shot put for the men.
Getting It Done: A total of 22 student-athletes recorded personal bests over the weekend.
Women: sophomore Tonya Cure, 100 hurdles, high jump; freshman Kristen Hemphill, 1500 meters; freshman Amanda Johnson, 100 hurdles; Danielle Korb, 800 meters; Katie Lloyd, 100 hurdles, high jump, javelin; sophomore Ashleigh Morton, 100 hurdles; Emily Pearson, 100 hurdles, long jump; Stacey Poulos, hammer; freshman Niomi Ridge, 100 hurdles, 400 hurdles; freshman Alison Taylor, 1500 meters; freshman April Thomas, 800 meters, 1500 meters; Jaimee Troth, hammer; Ashlee Velez, steeplechase; Erin Weber, steeplechase
Men: freshman Ryan Billups, long jump, triple jump; freshman David Eischeid, triple jump; freshman Adam Estes, 400 meters; Kevin Johnson, pole vault, javelin; Matt McKinney, shot put; freshman Steve Swartz, 1500 meters; freshman Jeff Wahl, 800 meters; sophomore Dave Zakavec, 5000 meters.