Colorado State University Athletics
Track & Field Preview: Mountain West Championships
2/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Indoor Track & Field
Feb. 20, 2006
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Conference Championship: Colorado State will travel to Albuquerque for the second time this season, this time to participate in the seventh annual Mountain West Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships. This will be the first time the meet has not been held at the Air Force Academy. Events begin on Thursday with the pentathlon and heptathlon, with the main portion of the meet taking place on Friday and Saturday.
Robert Shine, Not So Shiny: The Colorado State track & field team did not compete at the Robert Shine Invitational on Friday evening. Due to the bus breaking down en route, the team did not make it to Laramie. The meet was cancelled shortly after, as Air Force could not make it to Laramie due to inclement weather.
Entering As Number One: Colorado State will have nine athletes who enter the Mountain West Championship with the top seed. Junior Rob Watson has the best time this season in the 5000 meters (and also ranks second in the 3000 meters), while senior Justin Hazzard has the top spot in the 60 meter hurdles. In the men's field events, junior Kevin Johnson is ranked first in the long jump, senior Matt McKinney has the best shot put and junior Trey Eder ranks first in the weight throw. For the women, freshman Chantelle Dron has the top time in the mile, while sophomore Anne McLaughlin is tied for the top spot in the high jump, junior Janay DeLoach is atop the long jump and senior Jill McCormick ranks first in the weight throw. Colorado State brought home six individual titles from last season's championship and has none of those title winners competing this season.
Half Back: Colorado State won the women's 4x400 meter relay at the 2005 MWC Indoor Championship and two of those four runners return this season. Sophomore Emily Pearson ran the third leg of the relay and handed off to junior Megan Fox, who closed the anchor leg with a combined time of 3:49.54. The other two members of the team, Katrice Thomas and Becky Hammitt both graduated.
Falling Records: The fourth school record of the season was broken as senior Nicole Feest finished 10th in the 5000 meters at the Husky Invitational hosted by the University of Washington. Feest ran an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:26.16, breaking the former record of 16:31.81, held by Sarah Piccolo from 1997.
It's Been A While: Chantelle Dron provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship in the mile, winning the Holiday Inn Team Invitational with a time of 4:46.73. Her time is the fastest in the Mountain West Conference this season and she becomes the first female freshman in school history to qualify for the NCAAs in over 15 years. Qualifying standards could not be located prior to 1989. The last male to qualify as a true freshman was Magnus Lohse in 2004. Dron currently leads the conference in the mile and ranks third in the 800 meters with a time of 2:11.73 (a.a.).
Half Dozen: With Chantelle Dron and Nicole Feest provisionally qualifying, Colorado State now has six student-athletes in seven events qualified for the NCAA Championship in March. Janay DeLoach is qualified in both the 60 meters and long jump, while Jill McCormick, Trey Eder and senior Nate Heyrman are all qualified in the weight throw.
The Flying Morano: Junior Drew Morano recorded the second fastest 400 time in school history with his victory at the Holiday Inn Team Invitational. Morano ran a 47.61, bettering his previous best by exactly one second. The school record in the 400 meters is 46.95, held by Deontrey Taylor from 1998. Morano also finished fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 21.54.
Returning Firepower: The Rams return 13 student-athletes who earned Mountain West All-Conference honors in 2005. Those athletes follow, along with the events they earned honors in. Champions are also marked with an *. Janay DeLoach, 60 Meters, Long Jump Nicole Feest, 3000 Meters sophomore Collin Ferguson, High Jump *Megan Fox, 4x400 Relay Justin Hazzard, 60 Hurdles Nate Heyrman, Shot Put, Weight Throw senior Amanda Huddleston-Miller, Triple Jump junior Kevin Johnson, Heptathlon junior Danielle Korb, Mile, 3000 Meters Jill McCormick, Weight Throw Anne McLaughlin, High Jump Drew Morano, 200 Meters *Emily Pearson, 4x400 Relay
Top Returner: Janay DeLoach is the top returner in the 60 from last season's championship, while Anne McLaughlin is the top returner in the high jump. Jill McCormick was fifth and is the top returner in the shot put and the top returner in the weight throw. For the men, Nate Heyrman is the top returner in the weight throw and Kevin Johnson is the top returner in the heptathlon.
Cracking The Top Five: Rob Watson won the 3000 meters at the Holiday Inn Team Invitational by over 10 seconds, on his way to recording the fifth-fastest time in school history at 8:13.21. It is also the second-fastest time in the Mountain West this season behind multiple-time All-American Kip Kangogo of TCU.
Doubly Honored: Jill McCormick was named the Mountain West Conference Track & Field Athlete of the Week after winning the weight throw with a personal best throw of 66-8.5 at the Nebraska Triangular. It was the second straight week a Ram female athlete was honored after Janay DeLoach earned the award for her school record breaking performance in the long jump at the Modrall Sperling Lobo Invitational (20-4.5).
Mile After Mile: Chantelle Dron ran a 4:46.73 to win the mile at the Holiday Inn Team Invitational. Her time ranks third in school history. Danielle Korb finished second behind Dron with a time of 4:47.59, which ranks fourth on the CSU charts.
Weight = 33: Colorado State has the top five ranked men's weight throwers in the Mountain West Conference. Should those places hold for the conference championship, the Ram men will earn 33 points in the weight throw. CSU also has the top three men's throwers in the shot put and the top two in both the long jump and the 5000 meters.
Made To Be Broken: Four school records have fallen already this season. Nicole Feest became the latest record breaker, running a 16:26.16 in the 5000 meters to break the old record of 16:31.81, held by Sarah Piccolo from 1997. Kevin Johnson broke the school heptathlon record with his third place finish at the Zia Classic Multis, totaling 5,185 points and missing the NCAA provisional qualifying mark by just 15 points. Johnson breaks his own record of 5,077 from last season. Janay DeLoach has two school records to her name. She won the long jump at the Modrall Sperling Lobo Invitational with a leap of 20-4.5, breaking her own record of 20-1.75 from the 2004 Mountain West Championship. She also holds the school record in the 55 meters from the Wyoming Open.
Freshmen Phenoms: Eight true freshmen have already made major impacts on the Colorado State team. For the women, Chantelle Dron posted the third fastest time in the mile, the fifth fastest time in school history in the 800 meters, and also has the fourth quickest 600 yards time. Kristen Hemphill ranks seventh on the mile charts after a 4:56.69 in Nebraska. Rashaun Greer now ranks eighth in school history in the 60 meter hurdles and 18th in the 60, while Scott Sanders is 12th in the 800 meters. David Eischeid posted the 12th best long jump in school history at the Wyoming Open after placing second with a leap of 22-11.25.