Colorado State University Athletics
Track & Field Heads To Championship
2/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Indoor Track & Field
Feb. 20, 2007
Mountain West Championship Preview Championship Time:
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Mother Nature Changes Plans: Due to inclement weather, the Robert Shine Invitational was cancelled for last Friday, forcing several Rams to change their plans and compete at the Colorado School of Mines Twilight Open in Golden. Junior Ashleigh Morton posted the third best pole vault in school history, clearing a career-best 11-11.75. The Ryans also had a big day in the triple jump with redshirt freshman Ryan Billups posting a career-best leap of 46-10.25 and freshman Ryan Friese finishing right behind him at 46-10.
Team 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 and won the long jump title at the conference championship.
Starting With A Bang: For the past three conference championships, senior Katie Lloyd has given the Rams a leg up on the competition, scoring 10 points on the first day by winning the pentathlon/heptathlon. She will attempt to become the first-ever athlete in Mountain West history to win two straight indoor pentathlon titles, as the league has had seven different champions in its first seven years and the first to win four straight multi-titles. Lloyd won the 2005 and 2006 outdoor heptathlon titles, as well as the 2006 indoor pentathlon crown. In fact, last year, the Rams scored 17 points in the pentathlon with then-sophomores Emily Pearson, Ashleigh Morton and Tonya Cure placing sixth through eighth, respectively.
Only The Best Will Do: Senior Janay DeLoach still boasts the best long jump distance in the nation this season, and takes her leap of 21-0.75 to the conference championship, where she will attempt to defend her title. In her three championship meets, DeLoach has two second place finishes and one title in the long jump, as well as two second place nods in the 60 meters, where she will also compete this weekend. DeLoach will also run the 200 meters at the championship for the first time in her career.
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 11 return for the 2007 season:
senior Rae Backes, High Jump
Janay DeLoach, 60 meter dash, Long Jump
senior Trey Eder, Shot Put, Weight Throw
Nicole Feest, 3000, 5000
senior 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
senior Rob Watson, 3000, 5000
Looking For The Trifecta: Rae Backes won both the indoor and outdoor high jump titles last season and will be looking for her third straight on Saturday. Backes enters with the second best clearance in the league this season, 5-8, which is just 0.75 inches off the league leader, Tiyana Peters from New Mexico.
Rams In The Mountain West: The Colorado State men have finished second at the Mountain West Indoor Championship the past four years after winning the title in 2002. The women's team has finished in the top three in each of the last six seasons.
Feeling The Pressure: Five athletes enter the Mountain West Championship with the best marks in the league this season. Junior Drew Morano holds down the top spot in the 400 meters with his personal best time of 46.96, while Trey Eder has the best toss in the weight throw, Kevin Johnson has his school record heptathlon mark atop the league, Janay DeLoach leads both the conference and the nation in the long jump and Katie Lloyd ranks first in the pentathlon with her school record 3,929 points.
Fancy Feest: Senior Nicole Feest is the defending Mountain West Conference champion in both the 3000 and 5000 meters, earning High Point Award honors in 2006. This season, she has provisionally qualified in the 5000 meters and posted the fifth fastest time in school history in the 3000. She enters the championship ranked second in the 5000 and third in the 3000.
More From Morano: Drew Morano came as close as possible to the school record in the 400 meters at the Husky Classic, winning the meet with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 46.96. The school record is 46.95 held by Deontrey Taylor from 1998. Morano's time is also the second fastest in Mountain West history. He was the only student-athlete this season to be named the Mountain West Athlete of the Week twice, as he also earned the honor the week of Jan. 23.
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Elementary My Dear Watson: Rob Watson is the lone Ram male to defend a title in 2007. At the 2006 MWC Championship, Watson won the 5000 meters and finished second in the 3000 and will try his hand at both again this year. He currently ranks fifth in both distance events.
A Handle On The Situation: Entering the conference championship, Colorado State finds itself in a similar situation to past seasons, with a group of throwers at the top of the charts in the men's weight throw. The Rams have four men's weight throw titles in the last five seasons (2002-Drew Loftin; 2003-Loftin; 2005-Adam Trainor; 2006-Nate Heyrman) and Trey Eder tops the Mountain West performance list this year with an NCAA provisional throw of 64-7.75. Junior Jason Schutz also ranks third on the list, while sophomore Alex Godell is listed fourth. Last year, the Rams became the first team to sweep the top five spots in any one event, doing so in the weight throw and three of those five are listed above.
He's Ba-ack: Junior Magnus Lohse competed at the Husky Classic, throwing 56-10 in the shot put, marking the first meet for the Swede since 2005 during indoor competition. His put ranks him second thus far in the Mountain West Conference.
Helping Hands: Several members of the Colorado State football team are contributing to the indoor track & field season. Sophomore Rashaun Greer (wide receiver) ranks fourth in the Mountain West Conference in the 60 meter hurdles, while junior Jason Smith (kicker) ranks third in the triple jump and sophomore Ciarre Campbell (defensive back) ranks second in the long jump.
And The Award Goes To: Colorado State has earned five athlete of the week awards this season. Drew Morano is the only athlete to be named athlete of the week twice this season, while seniors Janay DeLoach, Kevin Johnson and Katie Lloyd have each been honored once.
Freshman Phenoms: Colorado State has 16 true freshmen who will be competing at the Mountain West Championships this weekend and seven of them rank in the top eight in their respective events. Sulaiman Sayyid ranks fourth in the 60 meters, while Kevin Wills and Derek Mansur rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the high jump and Doug Dieker is sixth in the heptathlon. For the women, Tanesha Johnson is sixth in the triple jump, Jennifer Ugochukwu is second in the shot put and Kristen Kugler and Sonni Russell rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the pentathlon.
Record & Title: Katie Lloyd won the Roger Cox Heptathlon en route to a new Colorado State record an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Lloyd tallied 3,929 points, breaking her previous school record of 3,898 from last season's MWC Championship. Lloyd ran a personal best 8.73 in the 60 meter hurdles, then cleared 5-4.5 in the high jump, threw a personal best 39-7.75 in the shot put, had a long jump of 19-2.75 and ran a personal best 2:28.94 in the 800. Her time of 8.73 in the hurdles also ranks as the fourth fastest at CSU.
Falling By The Wayside: Kevin Johnson also broke his own school record, finishing fourth in the heptathlon with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 5,330 points. Johnson ran an 8.13 in the 60 meter hurdles, the fifth fastest time in Colorado State history. Then in the pole vault, Johnson cleared a personal best 14-9. In the 1000 meters, he finished in 3:00.53. The first day, he ran a personal best time of 7.10 in the 60 meters, then finished third in the long jump with a leap of 22-11.25, threw 38-6 in the shot put and rounded out the day by clearing 6-2.75 in the high jump.
Etching Their Name: The top 10 lists at Colorado State are riddled with this performances from this season.
• Tanesha Johnson ranks sixth in the 60 meters at 7.69.
• Katie Lloyd ranks fourth in the 60 meter hurdles at 8.73.
• Emily Pearson now ranks sixth in the 60 meter hurdles at 8.90, while freshman Chardae Hancock is ninth and junior Niomi Ridge is 10th, at 8.95 and 8.98, respectively.
• Sophomore Kirsten Anthony and junior Heather Loseke rank seventh and eighth, respectively in the mile at 4:53.04 and 4:53.47.
• Nicole Feest and junior April Thomas rank fifth and sixth, respectively in the 3000 meters at 9:43.09 and 9:45.46, while Thomas now ranks third in the 5000 meters at 16:44.11.
• Emily Pearson ranks ninth in the high jump at 5-6.
• Janay DeLoach and Katie Lloyd hold the top two spots in the long jump at 21-0.75 and 19-11, respectively.
• Tanesha Johnson ranks third in the triple jump at 39-0.5
• Sophomore Kate Colvin ranks seventh in the pole vault, clearing 11-5.75.
• Jennifer Ugochukwu ranks sixth in the shot put at 47-9.25.
• Katie Lloyd and Emily Pearson rank first and fourth in the pentathlon at 3929 and 3690, respectively.
• Kevin Johnson and Rashaun Greer ranks fifth and sixth in the 60 meter hurdles, while Robert Marin is 10th, with times of 8.13, 8.19 and 8.29, respectively.
• Drew Morano ranks fourth in the 200 and second in the 400 meters at 21.40 and 46.96.
• Sophomore Scott Sanders ranks sixth in the mile at 4:05.84 and seventh in the 800 meters at 1:52.39.
• Sophomore Jeremy Freed ranks 10th in the mile at 4:12.41.
• Rob Watson and Jeremy Freed now rank eighth and ninth in the 5000 meters with times of 14:44.54 and 14:50.87, respectively.
• Jason Smith is fifth in the triple jump at 48-10.25.
• Kevin Johnson and Doug Dieker are first and second in the heptathlon at 5,330 and 4,713, respectively.
Dandy Dozen: According to the Dandy Dozen, the top 12 athletes in each event released by trackwire.com, Katie Lloyd is the ninth best pentathlete in the nation.
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.
Personal Bests: Several Rams posted a personal best mark in an event over the weekend. That list follows with the event the mark was made.
Women: Ashleigh Morton (pole vault)
Men: Ryan Billups (triple jump); Ryan Friese (triple jump).