Utah State captures three more titles on final day of MW Outdoor Track & Field Championships

CLOVIS, Calif. – Utah State wrapped up competition in the 2018 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships by capturing three titles and placing in the top three a total of nine times on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

All three gold medals came on the men’s side courtesy of sophomore Sindri Gudmundsson in the javelin, senior David Hirschmann in the discus and senior Clay Lambourne in the 800 meters. As a result, the men placed fourth in the team standings with 131 points.

Utah State’s women’s team placed fifth overall with 78 points, just six shy of fourth-place Boise State. San Diego State placed first with 120.5 points, while UNLV took second with 108 points and Colorado State finished third with 106.5 points.

Air Force won the men’s team title with 204 points, followed by CSU in second with 183.5 points and New Mexico in third with 147 points.

“On the men’s side, we are going to walk away feeling like we could have done a little bit more here and there, but overall, I’m pretty proud of what they did,” said USU head track & field coach Matt Ingebritsen. “On the women’s side, our girls just brought it this weekend. They were on a rampage. We got them riled up at the pre-conference meeting and they just decided that they really wanted to show off and say, ‘Hey, we are the real deal and we are here to stay.’ The future looks really bright for them.”

Hirschmann captured the first gold medal of the day when he defended his 2017 discus title with a mark of 55.20 meters (181-01). It’s the first time an Aggie has gone back-to-back in the discus since Roger Daley accomplished the feat in 1990 and 1991 (Big West Conference). Furthermore, the native of Elchingen, Germany, is the USU’s first two-time champion in the discus since James Parker won the title in 1995 and 1999, respectively.

“Getting the title again was, honestly, one of my main goals this season,” said Hirschmann, who placed second in the shot put on Friday. “My discus improved a lot in practice in these last couple of weeks, so I was pretty confident going in. I didn’t have a good day for my technique, but in the end, it still flew pretty far, so it’s good.”

Like Hirschmann, Gudmundsson also defended his title. The native of Kopavogur, Iceland, won the javelin with a throw of 78.14m (256-04), which broke his own MW Outdoor Championships record – he threw 77.19m (253-3) last year in Logan.

“I felt powerful,” Gudmundsson said. “I was hitting my block well today, so it felt good all the way through. For me, it’s awesome. I think this meet proves that coach (Ingebritsen) is doing something right. It just means that the things we are doing with coach, all the changes in the weight room and on the track at practice, are working.”

Utah State has now captured three consecutive titles in the javelin. Former thrower Devin Wright began the streak in 2016, when he won the Aggies’ first title in the event since Neil Warr in 2003.

Gudmundsson is just the third Aggie in school history to win a pair of conference titles in the javelin, joining Kent Bendixen (1979 and 1981, Big West) and Brent Smith (1994 and 1995, Big West).

Sophomore Kyle Morris placed third in the javelin with a mark of 62.01m (203-05).

Lambourne swept the indoor and outdoor 800-meter titles for the second time in his career, doing so in both 2018 and 2016. On Saturday evening, he crossed the finish line in 1:47.96. Senior teammate Jordan Beutler took second place with a time of 1:49.08.

“They sort of had a chip on their shoulder and wanted to come out and really put a point on it to say, ‘Yeah, we are the real deal,’” Ingebritsen said of Lambourne and Beutler. “It was a nice follow up to what they did at indoors. I think for them, it was just a matter of really driving the point home that we are the best.”

In the finals of the 5,000-meter run, senior Dillon Maggard placed second with a time of 13:55.85.

On the women’s side, senior Tylee Newman-Skinner took third in the finals of the 1,500m with a school-record time of 4:23.99. Jennifer Twitchell set the old mark of 4:24.08 in 2006.

“It feels really good,” Newman-Skinner said. “I’ve been chasing after that record my whole career, so I’m really excited. I got in really good position and got where I needed to be, and then when I started speeding up the last 400, I just couldn’t quite catch them, but I got in really good position, and I think that really helped me out. I’m really grateful for this opportunity and grateful I could do what I’ve set my mind to, and I’m grateful for Utah State.”

Senior Mia Estes opened the day for the Aggies by placing second in the finals of the javelin with a throw of 48.33m (158-07). Senior Brenn Flint followed up her shot put title on Friday by capturing second place in the discus on Saturday, recording a throw of 52.79m (173-02).

Fans can follow the Utah State track & field programs at twitter.com/USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at instagram.com/USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

MOUNTAIN WEST OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

VETERANS MEMORIAL STADIUM

CLOVIS, CALIF.

MAY 12, 2018

WOMEN’S STANDINGS

1. San Diego State – 120.5

2. UNLV – 108

3. Colorado State – 106.5

4. Boise State – 84

5. UTAH STATE – 78

6. New Mexico – 60

7. Fresno State – 58.5

8. Nevada – 57.5

9. San Jose State – 55

10. Wyoming – 46

11. Air Force – 44

MEN’S STANDINGS

1. Air Force – 204

2. Colorado State – 183.5

3. New Mexico – 147

4. UTAH STATE – 131

5. Wyoming – 81.5

6. Boise State – 48

7. Fresno State – 16

USU WOMEN RESULTS:

Javelin (finals) – 2. Mia Estes, 48.33m (158-07); 8. Stephanie Crapse, 42.21m (138-06).

Triple Jump (finals) – 14. Bailey Maseda, 11.28m (37-00.25); Foul, Whitney Skabelund.

Discus (finals) – 2. Brenn Flint, 52.79m (173-02); 6. Michala Zilkey, 48.63m (159-06); 7. Olivia Moriconi, 47.49m (155-10); 9. Maia Garren, 45.09m (147-11); 14. Tori Bailey, 42.14m (138-03).

4x100m Relay (finals) – 7. Utah State (Olivia Leavitt, Kasia Lawrynowicz, Jensen Mosman, Jordan Brandt), 47.64.

1,500m (finals) – 3. Tylee Newman-Skinner, 4:23.99.

100m Hurdles (finals) – 7. Talie Bonds, 14.19.

800m (finals) – 8. Karen Christensen, 2:12.26.

400m Hurdles (finals) – 4. Jordan Brandt, 1:00.83.

5,000m (finals) – 11. Tavia Dutson, 16:44.42; 14. Kashley Carter, 16:48.67.

4x400m Relay (finals) – 5. Utah State (Jensen Mosman, Breann Bate, Jordan Brandt, Kasia Lawrynowicz), 3:45.89.

USU MEN RESULTS:

Discus (finals) – 1. David Hirschmann, 55.20m (181-01); 10. Christian Sonnenberg, 47.60m (156-02); 14. Josh Barclay, 43.54m (142-10).

Triple Jump (finals) – 4. Kyle Brost, 14.43m (47-04.25).

High Jump (finals) – T6. Leaugen Fray, 2.03m (6-08.00); T6. Hunter Simonsen, 2.03m (6-08.00).

Javelin (finals) – 1. Sindri Gudmundsson, 78.14m (256-04); 3. Kyle Morris, 62.01m (203-05); 9. Keil Nicholas, 57.76m (189-06).

4x100m Relay (finals) – 5. Utah State (Junior Tovar, Garen Earley, Braden Kram, Austin Lane), 41.62.

1,500m (finals) – 5. Brody Smith, 3:49.69; 12. Samuel Coleman, 3:56.01.

110m Hurdles (finals) – 4. Samuel Wing, 14.72; 5. Chade Gonter, 15:07; 8. Jacob Davis, 15.26.

800m (finals) – 1. Clay Lambourne, 1:47.96; 2. Jordan Beutler, 1:49.08.

400m Hurdles (finals) – 5. Samuel Wing, 55.07; Jacob Davis, 56.29.

5,000m (finals) – 2. Dillon Maggard, 13:55.85; 20. Brody Smith, 14:46.11; DNF, James Withers.

4x400m Relay (finals) – 5. Utah State (Garen Earley, Clay Lambourne, Braden Kram, Samuel Wing), 3:16.93.

-USU-

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.