Track & Field Preview: 2005 NCAA Championship

NCAA Bound: Colorado State will send seven student-athletes to Sacramento for the NCAA Championship. This is the first of three straight years the Hornets will host the NCAA Championship. The Rams had four earn automatic berths by virtue of finishing in the top five at the NCAA Midwest Regional last weekend. Seniors Loree Smith and Adam Trainor both won the hammer throw events, while junior Jace Rivera was third in the same event. Senior Mike Nicks placed third in the steeplechase giving him a spot at the championships. Earning at-large bids are senior Michelle Carman in the 5000 meters, junior Cristina Gourdin in the heptathlon and junior Katie Hansen in the discus.

Build Another Shelf: Loree Smith is going to need to expand her house with all the awards she has recently won. The United States Track Coaches Association recently announced the Mondo Outdoor District Athletes and Coaches of the Year for NCAA Division I and Smith was honored as the Mountain Women?s Athlete of the Year. She is the second Ram to win the award as Drew Loftin was honored in 2003.

Nicks And Cuts: Mike Nicks will be making his third straight appearance at the NCAA Championship in the steeplechase. The school record holder at 8:42.98, Nicks finished third at the NCAA Midwest Regional, automatically advancing to the championship. He is an All-American in cross country and looking to become the fourth All-American in school history in the steeplechase (Gary Eliasen, 1959; Mike Lohman, 1976; Meg Larson, 2002). At the Mountain West Conference Championship, Nicks earned all-conference for the sixth time by finishing second in the steeplechase.

A Rivera Runs Through It: Jace Rivera threw a personal best 211-0 in the hammer throw to finish third at the NCAA Midwest Regional and earn his first berth into the NCAA Championship. His throw is the fourth best in school history and seeds him 15th at the championship. This was the second year he surpassed the regional qualifying standard. Rivera finished fourth in the hammer at the Mountain West Championship and has thrown over 200 feet in two meets this season. He also has two second place finishes and four third-place finishes in eight meets this year.

Smith Nails The Hammer: Ranked first in the country with the NCAA record of 229-9 in the hammer, Loree Smith enters the NCAA Championship as the favorite for the first time in her career. Recently named the Mondo Mountain District Athlete of the Year, as well as the High Point Award Winner and Outstanding Performer of the Mountain West Championship, Smith will be competing in her third outdoor NCAA Championship and sixth overall. She is a five-time All-American (two indoor shot put, two indoor weight throw, one hammer) and was the national runner-up in the indoor weight throw earlier this season. After her record breaking performance in the hammer at the Mountain West Championship, Smith proceeded to break the Mountain West Championship record of 177-1 in the discus, surpassing the former record of 174-4 held by Liz Toman of CSU from 2001. Then in her first shot put competition in over a year, Smith threw 54-9.5 to break the Colorado State, Mountain West Championship and Mountain West All-Time records. All three records were held by Toman at 52-1.25 from 2001.

Riding The A-Train: Adam Trainor will be competing in his second NCAA Championship after finishing 23rd in the hammer during the 2003 season. His best throw of the year, 220-6, ranks third in school history and has ranked him fourth in the nation most of the season. He won both the Mountain West Conference Championship and the NCAA Midwest Regional titles in the hammer, throwing 216-10 and 217-9, respectively and has thrown over 200 feet in his last eight competitions. During the indoor season, Trainor won the Mountain West title in the weight throw, earning the Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet award. He is a three-time All-Mountain West award winner in the hammer and has also earned all-conference three other times.

Where In The World Is Carman Sacramento: Michelle Carman will be making her first appearance in the NCAA Outdoor Championship. The senior, who transferred from Boise State, competed for the Rams in both the 2003 and 2004 NCAA Cross Country Championship, finishing 112th and 150th, respectively. This season, Carman ran a season-best 16:35.91 at the Stanford Invitational on March 25, which ranks fifth in school history, and is seeded 23rd headed into the NCAAs. She earned all-conference honors with her third place finish in the 5000 meters at the Mountain West Championship.

By The Skin of Her Teeth: For the second straight season, Cristina Gourdin nabbed the last qualifying spot at the NCAA Championship in the heptathlon. She owns the school record with a point total of 5,251 set earlier this season at the Glenn Morris Multis and finished fourth at the Mountain West Championship. Last year, Gourdin finished 25th at the NCAA Championship. Besides holding the school record in the heptathlon, Gourdin ranks third in the high jump (5-8), eighth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:01.27), 10th in the javelin (130-5), 13th in the 100 meter hurdles (14.78), 16th in the long jump (18-2.5) and 20th in the 200 meters (25.33).

Katie-Did: Katie Hansen earned an at-large bid to the NCAAs in the discus, marking her first trip to the championship. She has regionally qualified in the discus in each of the last three years and is also a three-time Mountain West All-Conference selection in that event. Hansen finished second at the Mountain West Championship this year with a personal best throw of 170-7, which ranks fifth in school history. She is seeded 20th heading into the NCAA Championship after finishing sixth at regionals last weekend. In eight competitions this season, Hansen has four victories and two second-place finishes.

Lucky Number Nine: The Rams have managed to establish nine new school records this season, one on the men?s side and eight women?s records. * Mike Nicks reset his own school record in the steeplechase after running an 8:42.98. * The quartet of sophomore Janay DeLoach, senior Katrice Thomas, senior Becky Hammitt and sophomore Megan Fox broke the school records in both the 800 meter relay and sprint medley relay with times of 1:38.91 and 3:57.99, respectively. * Fox, Thomas, freshman Emily Pearson and DeLoach broke the 4x100 relay record at 45.81 for the second time this season. * Loree Smith broke the school and NCAA record in the hammer with her throw of 229-9 and broke the school record in the shot put with her MWC title winning heave of 54-9.5. * Junior Amanda Huddleston broke her own record in the triple jump and now holds the school record at 41-6. * DeLoach has also broken her own record twice in the long jump this season and holds the record at 20-8. * Cristina Gourdin broke assistant coach Lindsey Malmgren?s heptathlon record with her performance of 5,251 points.

All-Conference: A total of 19 student-athletes earned 29 all-conference certificates at the Mountain West Conference Championship by finishing in the top three in their respective events. Both Janay DeLoach and Loree Smith were three-time all-conference honorees, while six others earned two awards each. Smith was also named the High Point Award and Most Outstanding Performer Award winner.
* senior Jacob Benson, High Jump, Long Jump
* Michelle Carman, 5000 Meters
* sophomore Matt Cianciulli, 10,000 Meters
* Janay DeLoach, 100 Meters, 4x100 Meter Relay, Long Jump
* sophomore Trey Eder, Shot Put
* Megan Fox, 4x100 Meter Relay
* junior Chris Grapsas, 4x100 Meter Relay
* Katie Hansen, Discus
* senior Mike Horton, 110 Meter Hurdles, 4x100 Meter Relay
* Amanda Huddleston, Triple Jump
* freshman Jarelle Johnson, Long Jump, Triple Jump
* sophomore Katie Lloyd, Heptathlon, High Jump
* sophomore Denny Majerus, 200 Meters, 4x100 Meter Relay
* Mike Nicks, Steeplechase
* Emily Pearson, 4x100 Meter Relay
* sophomore Rodnee Pope, 4x100 Meter Relay
* Loree Smith, Shot Put, Discus, Hammer
* Katrice Thomas, 200 Meters, 4x100 Meter Relay
* Adam Trainor, Hammer

USA Championship Bound: Loree Smith, Adam Trainor and Mike Nicks have all surpassed the automatic qualifying standard for the USA National Championships. Smith has the ?A? standard in both the shot put and hammer, while Trainor has the ?A? standard in the hammer and Nicks has the ?A? standard in the steeplechase. Janay DeLoach has met the ?B? standard, which is a provisional qualifying standard in the long jump. The 2005 USA Track & Field Championships will be held June 23-26 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

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