Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Mountain West Championships
Johnson Breaks School Record In Heptathlon
2/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Indoor Track & Field
Feb. 23, 2007
"Like most big meets, we had our ups and our downs," said head coach Brian Bedard. "Unfortunately, if we're trying to win a championship, we may not have that margin of error. With the depth of BYU on both the men's and women's side, we can't make many mistakes."
In the men's heptathlon, Johnson began the day running a personal best time of 8.09, also the fifth fastest time in school history to score 959 points and increase his lead. In the pole vault, he cleared 14-5.25, then ran a personal best 2:55.19 in the 1000 meters to hold on and win his first-ever indoor heptathlon title, defeating defending MWC Champion Brian Walsh by just 30 points.
Freshman Doug Dieker fell over the second hurdle, but showed the great work ethic that Coach Malone saw when she recruited him, getting up and finishing the race, despite cutting up his right knee. In the pole vault, Dieker finished second alongside Johnson, clearing 14-5.25. Due to his injuries, he did not finish the 1000 meters, finishing 10th overall with 3,415 points.
"Kevin Johnson's performance in the heptathlon was an inspiration to our team and I think he proved why he's one of the best athletes in the conference," continued Bedard. "Drew Morano was fantastic. He did his job, qualifying for finals in both (the 200 and 400). The men's weight throwers did a nice job, doing what they were supposed to do. Katie Lloyd, coming back off the pentathlon, qualifying in the hurdles and finishing where she did in the long jump is huge for us."
Senior Janay DeLoach won her second consecutive long jump conference crown, leaping 20-7.25, while Lloyd finished sixth with a leap of 19-7.
Senior Rob Watson finished third in the 5,000 meters - the first open event on the track at the Mountain West Championships - running a 15:00.10. Senior Ryan Kirkpatrick finished just out of the scoring, placing ninth in 15:27.81. Sopohomore Ciarre Campbell earned all-conference honors, jumping 22-7.75, while Johnson had a jump of 22-5 to finish sixth. In the weight throw, senior Trey Eder was second at 64-3, while junior Jason Schutz placed third at 63-7.75, sophomore Alex Godell was sixth at 56-10 and junior Magnus Lohse, throwing the weight for the first time since the 2004 Mountain West Championship, finished eighth with a throw of 53-3. Freshmen Derek Mansur and Kevin Wills cleared 6-5.5 and 6-3.5 respectively in the high jump to finish fifth and eighth, respectively.
The men's distance medley relay team consisting of Ryan Kirkpatrick, Tim Sterrenberg, Steve Swartz and Jeff Wahl finished fourth with a time of 10:21.70, while the women's distance medley relay of Ali Taylor, Emily Pearson, Kristen Kugler and Kristen Hemphill finished second in 12:25.63.
Senior Nicole Feest, the defending champion in the 5,000 meters, finished second this season, running a 17:12.27. Junior April Thomas placed fourth, running a 17:20.79, while junior Danielle Rawlings was 10th at 18:59.20. In the women's weight throw, senior Haley Hunt finished fourth, throwing a personal best 58-10, bettering her throw from last season's championship, while freshman Jennifer Mack finished eighth, tossing 54-0.
In the preliminary races, Johnson continued to have a great meet, running an 8.08 in the 60 meter hurdles to win the first heat and qualify with the fastest time, surpassing his previous best time of 8.09 from earlier in the day in the heptathlon. Also qualifying for tomorrow is sophomore Rashaun Greer, who ran an 8.24. In the 60 meters, freshman Sulaiman Sayyid clocked a personal best time of 6.89 to qualify fourth, while senior Denny Majerus missed qualifying for finals after the times were taken to the 1/1000th of a second. Junior Drew Morano won the third heat of the 400 meters with a time of 47.41, sophomore Kyle Keeler ran a personal best time of 48.79, which is also the ninth fastest time in CSU history and freshman Cole Tucker grabbed the last qualifying spot after running a personal best time of 48.87. Morano also won the third heat of the 200 meters, clocking a 21.22 for the second fastest time in school history and an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Sayyid and Majerus also both advance to the finals in the 200 meters, with Sayyid clocking a personal best time of 22.19 and Majerus clocking a 22.21. Both sophomore Scott Sanders and junior Steve Swartz advanced to the finals of the 800 meters.
Lloyd, who yesterday won the pentathlon with a school record 4,047 points, ran a personal best 8.67 in the 60 meter hurdles to qualify for tomorrow's final. DeLoach ran a 7.41 in the prelims of the 60 meters to win the first heat and advance to the finals, while freshman Tanesha Johnson ran a personal best 7.66 to grab a qualifying spot. In the mile, junior Kirsten Anthony won the second heat, while sophomore Kristen Hemphill was right behind her. In the first heat, a tight pack across the line saw four student-athletes finish in 0.08 seconds - including junior Heather Loseke. DeLoach ran a personal best 24.67 to finish second in the sixth of eight heats of the 200 meters and qualify for finals.
The final day of the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championship starts tomorrow at 10:30 with the women's high jump and concludes with the women's 4x400 meter relay at approximately 3:45.
