Colorado State University Athletics
Track & Field Sends 10 To USAs
6/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Indoor Track & Field
USA Championships: Colorado State will be well represented at the USA Outdoor Track & Field and USA Outdoor Junior Track & Field Championships June 23-26 in Carson, Calif. Ten either current or former Rams will be competing over the four days. Olympian Casey Malone headlines the former Rams, as he is seeded fifth in the discus throw with his toss of 211-0. At the Olympic Games in Greece, Malone finished sixth and is currently eighth in the IAAF world rankings (International Association of Athletics Federations). Also competing in the men?s discus is former All-American Brian Trainor. Trainor comes into the competition with a best throw of 195-2 this season. In the hammer are seniors Loree Smith and Adam Trainor. Both are coming off the NCAA Championships, where Smith won the first-ever women?s title in the hammer and Trainor finished eighth, earning his first All-American award. Also competing for the Rams will be sophomore Janay DeLoach in the long jump, earning a provisional mark with her school record. The only Ram competitor on the track, John Woods will compete in both the 100 meters and 200 meters after graduating last month. At the junior championship, freshmen Kirsten Anthony (1500 meters), Jarelle Johnson (triple jump), Ashleigh Morton (heptathlon) and Jeff Wahl (1500 meters) will be competing.
Making History: Loree Smith became the first-ever women?s individual champion in school history at the NCAA Championship. Smith won the hammer throw at 224-8, recording the three best throws of the competition. Smith is now a five-time All-American after also finishing as the national runner-up in the weight throw at the indoor national championship. Smith was also named the Mondo Mountain District Women?s Athlete of the Year by The United States Track Coaches Association. Her NCAA and school record throw of 229-9 from the Mountain West Conference Championship is the 17th best in the world, is the second best throw in the United States this season and she already ranks 35th on the IAAF world rankings.
Trio of All-Americans: Besides Loree Smith, the Rams also had Adam Trainor and junior Katie Hansen honored as All-Americans. Trainor finished eighth in the hammer throw earning the award for the first time, while Hansen also finished eighth in the discus throw, earning her first certificate. Hansen was seeded 20th entering the four-day championship, qualified 11th in the preliminaries and then unleashed a personal best throw of 172-11 to finish eighth in the finals.
NCAA Championship Recap: The Rams sent seven competitors to the NCAA Championship and brought home one title (Loree Smith, hammer) and three All-American certificates (Smith, Adam Trainor - hammer, Katie Hansen - discus). The women?s team finished 22nd with 11 points overall, while the men tied for 67th with one point. The Rams also saw senior Mike Nicks finish 10th in his heat of the steeplechase, senior Michelle Carman finish 13th in her heat of the 5000 meters and junior Jace Rivera finish ninth in his flight of the hammer on the first day of competition. Junior Cristina Gourdin competed the last two days of the championship in the heptathlon, finishing in 27th place.
Lucky Number Nine: The Rams 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, breaking the record twice during the year. * 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 after breaking the Mountain West Championship records in the shot put, discus and hammer throw, with the shot put and hammer also being school records and the hammer being an NCAA record.
* 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
* 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 Track & Field Championships Schedule
(Only CSU competitors events listed):
Thursday, June 23 (times are pacific) 1:30 100m hurdles (hpethatlon) Morton 2:30 high jump (heptathlon) Morton 4:45 shot put (heptathlon) Morton 5:00 discus final Malone, B. Trainor 5:40 200 meters (heptathlon) Morton Friday, June 24 11:00 hammer final A. Trainor 2:00 long jump (heptathlon) Morton 3:10 1500 meters 1st round Anthony 3:25 1500 meters 1st round Wahl 3:30 javelin (heptathlon) Morton 5:10 long jump final DeLoach 5:50 800 meters (heptathlon) Morton 6:40 100 meters 1st round Woods Saturday, June 25 12:35 100 meters semifinal Woods 1:10 1500 meters final Anthony 1:20 1500 meters final Wahl 2:52 100 meters final Woods 4:00 hammer final Smith 4:50 200 meters 1st round Woods Sunday, June 26 10:30 triple jump Johnson 2:06 200 meters semifinal Woods 3:47 200 meters final Woods