The Pokes were busy last weekend.
The Wyoming track team competed at the Colorado Invitational, the Weber State Outdoor Open and the Utah Spring Classic, earning a combined nine first-place honors.
Freshman Jordan Charles kicked off Wyoming’s eventful weekend at the Utah Spring Classic, winning the 110-meter hurdles with a time that bumped him up to 2nd place in the Mountain West and 44th place in the NCAA. Charles 14.09 finish marked a new personal best for the freshman.
Although Charles was .83 seconds slower on Saturday, he accomplished a second 110-meter hurdles victory at the Weber State Outdoor Open with a time of 14.92.
Tallying another hurdle win, senior Jenna Mann followed up her career-best finish last weekend with another 100-meter hurdle victory. Mann’s time dropped slightly – she added .53 seconds from her previous performance.
Apparently Wyoming worked on hurdles this week; seven athletes finished in the top-five in the four hurdle events.
Coming in second in the 100-meter hurdles at the Utah Spring Classic, senior Katy Hall finished .05 seconds behind first place with a time of 14.27.
Freshman Mikalah Skates crossed the finish line .03 seconds after Hall for her third-place spot.
“Our hurdlers really took advantage of a great weather day,” said Wyoming head coach Bryan Berryhill. “It was a good day to go out there and get things done and they took advantage of it to put up some great marks. Coach (Shaun) Meinecke really had them ready to race today.”
The Weber State Outdoor Open was the Pokes’ most successful competition of the weekend. Five Cowgirls and two Cowboys ended the meet with wins.
Redshirt freshman Audra DeStefano led the Cowgirls, achieving a career-best win in the 2000-meter steeplechase in her second time competing in the event. DeStefano posted the second-best time in the Mountain West.
“I really thought it was another very good day for the whole team,” Berryhill said. “We had a few more top-10 times in there, some personal bests and a lot of season bests. We’ve put together a string of really good meets, so it’s only a matter of time before you see a number of big marks out of these kids, hopefully in the coming weeks.”
In his second performance since receiving All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, senior Mason Finley displayed another impressive performance at the Colorado Invitational.
Finley took first in the discus with his season-best throw of 60.08 meters. Finley currently leads the Mountain West and holds 9th place in the NCAA for the event.
Junior Paul Thomas came in two places behind Finley with a throw of 53.08 meters. Freshman Damon Unland finished in 7th place with his 50.48-meter throw and 10thplace in the hammer with a throw of 53.51-meters.
“Overall a nice meet for the throw crew with some good improvements,” said Wyoming assistant coach Paul Barrett in an interview with gowyo.com. “I thought true freshman Damon Unland had the best overall performance with a big PR in the discus and just missing a PR in the hammer.”
Wyoming will travel to Walnut, Calif. tomorrow for the Mt. SAC Relays. The Pokes will end the weekend in Norwalk, Calif. at the Beach Invite.
