Utah State collects five titles on final day of MW Outdoor Track and Field Championships

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Utah State’s Parker Bluth highlighted a strong showing by the Aggies on the fourth and final day of the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field Championships as the junior captured a pair of individual titles, to go along with a 4x400m relay crown, on Saturday at the SDSU Aztec Sports Deck.

The Aggies collected five titles overall as senior Chari Hawkins won the women’s high jump and junior Cole Lambourne defended his crown in the men’s 400-meter race.

“Any time you can have kids that win titles in this league, you know you’re recruiting the right people and they’re doing the right things,” USU head coach Gregg Gensel said. “I’m very proud of the effort that our Aggies made today.”

For his three titles, Bluth was tabbed the Mountain West Men’s Outstanding Performer of the Meet.

“I’ve watched Nic Bowens get it the last couple of meets, so it’s great to keep it at Utah State and know that the sprinters are still here and will be here for a while,” Bluth said.

Not to be outdone, Hawkins also garnered Outstanding Performer of the Meet honors on the women’s side. The native of Rexburg, Idaho, has won the award three straight times, which includes the Indoor Championships.

“Chari is a special person and special athlete,” Gensel said. “She works really hard and she’s just got so much talent. I’ve always said if you have the desire, the ability to work hard and the talent, it’s going to show. With her, that’s exactly what’s happened.

“With Parker, he’s got talent, there’s no question about it. But, I think he thought that being in Nic Bowens’ shadow that maybe he wasn’t going to be able to do that, but he stepped it up this year and worked really hard. He set the school record in the 200 and being the athlete of the meet, he showed that he’s the real deal.”

Five different Aggies earned first-team all-Mountain West honors on Saturday for finishing in the top three in their respective events.

On the men’s side, Utah State finished in fourth place with 105 points. The Aggie women also finished in fourth with 68 points. That’s an improvement from last year’s Outdoor Championships in Laramie, Wyo., when they took sixth with 78 points.

“We’re being consistent on the men’s side and our women are slowly improving,” Gensel said. “They’re starting to catch on that this league is a great track league and we need to step it up in order to compete and this weekend showed that. We had a lot of ladies and a lot of guys that stepped up and had great performances for this season.”

The Colorado State men and women won the team titles with 187 and 167 points, respectively. Rams head coach Brian Bedard was tabbed the Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year for leading the Rams to a sweep of both titles.

Lambourne won the Aggies’ first title of the day as he won the 400m with a time of 46.31 seconds.

“It means a lot,” Lambourne said of his crown. “Coming back the next year, if you won the first year, you have to defend that title. It makes me happy to be able to do that and be able to meet everyone’s expectations and not fall short.”

Junior Tanner Hunt finished second in the 400m with a personal-best time of 47.41.

“I was almost more thrilled about that,” Lambourne said of Hunt placing second. “We wanted to go 1-2 and that was our goal the whole week. We train every day in practice together, so to have him come in right behind me like he does in practice was just awesome.”

Bluth won his first gold of the day and the Aggies’ second in the 100m with a personal-best time of 10.34.

“It’s the first time I’ve actually won an individual event in a championship, so it’s really cool,” Bluth said. “We’ve worked hard for it and Utah State has got some great sprinters, so it’s great for our school.”

Hawkins’ victory in the high jump came with a leap of 1.76m (5-09.25).

“It was really something I wasn’t expecting, but I’m so grateful that I was able to come out on top and that the elements were in my favor,” Hawkins said. “It’s just exciting to be here in general, let alone to even take home the gold.”

This was the final conference championships for Hawkins, who also won the heptathlon title on Thursday.

“It’s just exciting to soak it all in,” Hawkins said. “I hope that I’m not done with track completely, but it’s crazy that it’s my last conference meet. It’s crazy just to think that I’m not going to be back here hearing Mountain West anymore. I’m excited to just sit in the stands and cheer on my teammates and cheer on all my friends that I’ve made through these years. I’ve had amazing competitors and I’ve had amazing teammates and coaches, so I’m just so grateful to even be here.”

Bluth then won the 200m with a school-record time of 20.52. He then teamed up with Cole and freshman Clay Lambourne, as well as Hunt, to win the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:07.48.

“It threatened rain all weekend, but I happened to luck out. It was sunny skies when I ran, so I was able to do well,” Bluth said of winning the 200.

Other top-five finishes on the men’s side included Clay Lambourne taking second in the 800m (1:48.93), sophomore Jason Allred taking fifth in the pole vault (4.87m/15-11.75), sophomore Devin Wright taking fourth in the javelin (59.35m/194-09) and junior Kevin Allen taking fourth in the shot put with a personal-best mark (16.93m/55-06.50). On top of that, the 4x100m relay team of freshman Bryson Stout, Bluth, Hunt and Cole Lambourne finished fourth (41.21).

On the women’s side, Hawkins also finished fifth in the 100m hurdles (13.75), while senior Jodi Williams took fifth in the high jump (1.73m/5-09.00) and senior Sam Nielson captured fourth in the triple jump (12.17m/39-11.25). In the javelin, freshman Stephanie Crapse finished fourth with a personal-best toss (42.68m/140-00) and sophomore Mia Estes took fifth (42.11m/138-02).

Fans can follow Utah State’s track & field programs on Facebook at USUTrack.

UTAH STATE RESULTS

MOUNTAIN WEST OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

SAN DIEGO, CALIF.

MAY 16, 2015

Final Women’s Standings

1. Colorado State – 167

2. New Mexico – 133

3. San Diego State – 116

4. UTAH STATE – 68

5. UNLV – 64

6. Boise State – 62

7. Nevada – 61

8. Wyoming – 52

9. Fresno State – 51

10. San Jose State – 33

10. Air Force – 12

Final Men’s Standings

1. Colorado State – 187

2. Air Force – 172

3. New Mexico – 145

4. UTAH STATE – 105

5. Wyoming – 99

6. Boise State – 86

7. Fresno State – 21

WOMEN’S RESULTS:

400m (finals) – 9. Kaitlyn Wilcox, 56.64

800m (finals) – 7. Adela Hofmannova, 2:12.48

1,500m (finals) – 7. Adela Hofmannova, 4:34.89

5,000m (finals) – 17. Tori Parkinson, 17:32.96; 19. Jackie Heaps, 17:39.96; 24. Karlee Deeter, 17:55.38; 25. Kelsey Yamauchi, 17:56.18; 30. Hannah Malone, 18:31.67; 31. Candace Greenwood, 18:43.25

100m Hurdles (finals) – 5. Chari Hawkins, 13.75

4x100m Relay (finals) – 8. Laycee Elliott, Kaitlyn Wilcox, Melissa Rasmussen, Kayla Lee, 50.36

High Jump (finals) – 1. Chari Hawkins, 1.76m (5-09.25); 5. Jodi Williams, 1.73m (5-08.00); 12. Katelyn Zabriskie, 1.65m (5-05.00); 19. Chelsey Taylor, 1.60m (5-03.00); Mitzi Munns-Stewart, NH; Amber Thompson, NH; Bethani Talbot, NH

Triple Jump (finals) – 4. Sam Nielson, 12.17m (39-11.25); 11. Kayla Lee, 11.41m (37-05.25); 15. Katelyn Zabriskie, 11.03m (36-02.25)

Shot Put (finals) – 9. Maci Bingham, 13.92m (45-08.00)

Javelin (finals) – 4. Stephanie Crapse, 42.68m (140-00); 5. Mia Estes, 42.11m (138-02)

MEN’S RESULTS:

100m (finals) – 1. Parker Bluth, 10.34

200m (finals) – 1. Parker Bluth, 20.52

400m (finals) – 1. Cole Lambourne, 46.31; 2. Tanner Hunt, 47.41

800m (finals) – 2. Clay Lambourne, 1:48.93 ; 6. Jordan Beutler, 1:51.04; 7. Brett McAdams, 1:51.60

1,500m (finals) – 8. Eric Shellhorn, 3:55.06

5,000m (finals) – 17. Colby Wilson, 14:59.10; 21. Mike Bills, 15:02.83; 25. Dillon Maggard, 15:22.44; 27. Kade Jensen, 15:26.85; 28. Mitch Pettitt, 15:48.78; 30. Dustin Randall, 16:00.16; 31. Justin Sheets, 16:01.80; 32. Jacob Barton, 16:15.35; Tom Derr, DNF

400m Hurdles (finals) – 7. Dan Mosman, 54.83

4x100m Relay (finals) – 4. Bryson Stout, Parker Bluth, Tanner Hunt, Cole Lambourne, 41.21

4x400m Relay (finals) – 1. Parker Bluth, Tanner Hunt, Clay Lambourne, Cole Lambourne, 3:07.48

Pole Vault (finals) – 5. Jason Allred, 4.87m (15-11.75); 10. Mitchell Kalinin, 4.52m (14-10.00)

Triple Jump (finals) – 11. CJ O’Neal, 13.70m (44-11.50)

Shot Put (finals) – 4. Kevin Allen, 16.93m (55-06.50); 8. David Hirschmann, 15.48m (50-09.50)

Javelin (finals) – 4. Devin Wright, 59.35m (194-09)

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