Wyoming men and women’s track and field teams excelled over the weekend and came out winners in two of three duals at the Fum McGraw Open on March 25 in Fort Collins.
The Cowboys and Cowgirls both defeated Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado while falling to Colorado State.
Sophomore sprinter Jerayah Davis won the 100 meters with a blistering time of 11.56 seconds, which was good for second best all-time at UW. Davis also ran a leg on the Cowgirls’ winning 4×100 relay team, which posted a time of 45.39 seconds, good for third on the UW all-time list.
“The kids competed really well,” head coach Bryan Berryhill said. “We improved upon a week ago, and that’s what we talked about – just getting better each week. I thought it was a successful day across the board for us.”
Sophomore Jackson Wood continued his season long hot streak, posting a personal best time of 21.49 seconds in the 200 meters. The time pushed him into sixth all-time for UW just a week after he made the program’s top 10 list for the outdoor 400 meters.
The men’s 4×100 relay team of Kevin Blackett, Jace Marx, Jordan Charles and Sam Kirkeide moved into sixth place all-time on UW’s all-time list with a time of 40.69 seconds, which also won the event. Kirkeide also placed third in the men’s 100 meters with a time of 10.85.
Middle distance runner Bryce Ailshie blew away the competition in the men’s 400 meters, posting a time of 47.80, good enough for eighth in school history and nearly a second faster than second place. Ricky Faure won the 800 meters with an adjusted time of 1:49.73.
Senior Cassidy Meade won the 800 meters for the second consecutive meet with an adjusted time of 2:11.43 while freshman Calbi Ausmann took second. Senior Megan Brunette won the women’s 5000 meters with an adjusted time of 17:14.35, good for ninth all-time at UW.
Senior Scott Carter won the triple jump with a leap of 48 feet, 1.25 inches. The Cowboys also had two winners in the throwing events, as Damon Unland won the hammer throw with a personal best toss of 194-2, while Hap Frketich earned the victory in the javelin at 191-6.
“As an overall team we had a really nice performance,” Berryhill said. “When you have a nice weather day in this region this time of year, you’ve got to take advantage of it. We’re in some of our hardest training right now, but [the athletes] are still approaching it like they can go out and PR. I thought the focus was there.”
UW track & field will continue to compete around the region for two more weekends, running at Northern Colorado’s Tom Benich Invite in Greeley on April 1 before heading to Boulder for the CU Invite on April 7-8.
