Colorado State University Athletics
Indoor Track & Field Season Set To Begin
12/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Indoor Track & Field
Dec. 6, 2006
Wyoming Open Notes
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2007 Season Begins This Weekend: Colorado State begins the indoor track and field season at the Wyoming Open in Laramie on Saturday. The Rams will compete in this meet, then take a break for the winter holidays, returning to action on Jan. 19 with the Potts Invitational.
In Defense: The women's team looks to defend its 2006 Mountain West Conference title in 2007. The Rams won the crown in exciting fashion, winning the first heat of the 4x400 relay to defeat perennial champions BYU, 156.5-155.5. The women return 18 off that championship roster, including Mountain West Conference High Point Award Winner Nicole Feest, who won both the 3000 and 5000 meters a year ago and Janay DeLoach, who finished 14th in the 60 meters at the NCAA Championship.
Record Holders Returning: DeLoach returns for her senior season as the school record holder in the 55 meters, 60 meters and long jump, as well as a member of the mile relay team. Megan Fox and Emily Pearson were also members of the record setting mile relay squad. Feest returns as the school record holder in the 5000 meters, while Katie Lloyd owns the pentathlon record. For the men, Magnus Lohse returns holding the shot put record and Kevin Johnson holds the school record in the heptathlon.
Roster Breakdown: Fifteen states and four countries are represented on the 2007 Rams' rosters. Besides the United States, the Rams have student-athletes from Canada (Ontario), Australia and Sweden. The majority of the rosters (74) are home-grown, hailing from the state of Colorado, while there are four each from California and Oregon, three from Arizona and New Mexico, two each from Kansas, South Dakota and Texas and one from Illinois, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio and Utah.
All-Conference Returners: Colorado State had 23 student-athletes named to the Mountain West All-Conference team after the conclusion of the 2006 championship and 13 return for the 2007 season:
senior Rae Backes, High Jump
Janay DeLoach, 60 meter dash, Long Jump
sophomore Chantelle Dron, DMR
senior Trey Eder, Shot Put, Weight Throw
Nicole Feest, 3,000, 5,000
Kevin Johnson, Heptathlon
senior Ryan Kirkpatrick, DMR
Katie Lloyd, 60 meter hurdles, Pentathlon
Emily Pearson, Distance Medley
sophomore Scott Sanders, DMR
junior Steven Swartz, Distance Medley
junior Ashlee Velez, Distance Medley
senior Rob Watson, 3,000, 5,000
NCAA Qualifiers: Colorado State had nine student-athletes surpass the provisional qualifying standards last season and seven return for the 2007 season. Janay DeLoach advanced to the NCAAs in the 60 meters, and she also provisionally qualified in the long jump. Other provisional qualifiers are Rae Backes (high jump), Chantelle Dron (mile), Trey Eder (weight throw), Nicole Feest (3000 & 5000 meters), Kevin Johnson (heptathlon) and Katie Lloyd (pentathlon).
Signed & Sealed: During the early NLI signing period, track & field signed six student-athletes. Jakob Keyser (Distance/Cross Country, Central Point, Ore./Crater HS), Ian Lettow (Throws, Arvada, Colo./Faith Christian HS), Ellen Rastall (Distance/Cross Country, Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain HS), Hilary Fraser (Throws, Lake Forrest, Calif./El Toro HS), Alexandra Darling (Multis/Hurdles, Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) and Bobby Potrykus (Middle Distance, Conifer, Colo./Conifer HS) all signed with the Rams.
Coaching Changes: Long time assistant coach Brian Bedard was named the head coach in April following the retirement of Del Hessel. Bedard was the assistant coach for 18 seasons, specializing most recently in instructing the throwing events. Bedard then named 10-time All-American Bryan Berryhill as the distance coach. Berryhill competed for the Rams from 1998-2001 and was recently named to the Colorado State Hall of Fame.