Colorado State University Athletics
Track & Field To Host Jack Christiansen Invitational
4/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Outdoor Track & Field
April 18, 2007
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A Few Stragglers: Nine Rams will not compete at home this weekend, instead they will be in Eugene, Oregon for the prestigious Oregon Invitational and Distance Carnival. Seniors Nicole Feest, Danielle Korb and Rob Watson, along with Kirsten Anthony, Kristen Hemphill, Heather Loseke, Chantelle Dron, Steve Swartz and Drew Morano will all head to the land of the Ducks.
Honored: Junior Emily Pearson was named the Mountain West Co-Athlete of the Week after provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championship and winning the Cal Invitational Heptathlon. Pearson scored a personal best 5,204 points and also had personal bests in the 200 meters (24.89), high jump (5-4.25) and 800 meters (2:24.08). Her heptathlon total ranks third in school history, while her 24.89 in the 200 meters ranks 13th.
The Flying Quintet: Danielle Korb, Chantelle Dron, Kirsten Anthony, Kristen Hemphill and Heather Loseke all posted career best times in the 1500 meters at the Sun Angel Classic. Korb ran a 4:29.27 for the seventh fastest time in school history, while Dron's time of 4:30.47 to rank ninth on the same list. Anthony now ranks 11th on the descending order list at 4:31.73 and Hemphill is 16th at 4:34.74. Loseke narrowly missed the top 20 list after clocking in at 4:36.45. The five Rams finished third through fifth, seventh and ninth respectively in the race in Tempe.
Victorious Seniors: Nicole Feest and Rob Watson both won the 3000 meters at the Sun Angel Classic. Feest ran a 9:48.34, while Watson crossed the tape in 8:13.97, which is a new school record in the non-traditional outdoor event. Watson breaks the old school record of 8:15.54, held by Bill Michel from 2002.
Closing In: Drew Morano is steadily inching closer to the school record in the 400 meters. The junior clocked a 46.73 at the Sun Angel Classic for the second fastest time in school history behind the record of 46.40 by Deontrey Taylor in 1998. Morano also ranks fourth in the 200 meters in school history at 21.02 from last season. Morano is qualified for the NCAA Regionals in both events after also running a 21.15 at the Sun Angel Classic.
Jumping Janay: Senior Janay DeLoach continues to perform well for the Rams. DeLoach won the long jump at the Sun Angel Classic with a leap of 20-11.25, but the wind was just over the allowable limit. Her leap of 20-3.75 from the preliminaries is also an NCAA Regional qualifying mark. DeLoach also ran an 11.90 in the 100 meters to finish fifth and a 24.74 in the 200 meters to place ninth. Her career best times are 11.74 and 24.67, respectively, while she holds the school record in the long jump at 20-8.
Schutz and Scores: Junior Jason Schutz threw a personal best 188-3 in the discus to qualify for the NCAA regionals and move up to sixth on the CSU descending order chart. He finished third at both the Mesa Classic on Friday evening, where he posted the career-best mark, then finished third on Saturday at the Sun Angel Classic with a throw of 186-5. Freshman Cameron Carter also posted a personal best throw of 178-10 on Friday evening, which ranks ninth in school history and is an NCAA Regional qualifying mark.
She's Back-es: Senior Rae Backes qualified for the NCAA Regionals for the fourth straight year after clearing 5-8.75 in the high jump to tie for second place at the Sun Angel Classic. Backes ranks second on the record charts at CSU, clearing 5-9.25 in 2004. She has cleared 5-8.75 or better six times during her outdoor career.
Double Qualifier: Senior Nate Heyrman posted NCAA Regional qualifying marks in both the shot put and hammer over the weekend. He posted the best shot put throw in the Mountain West Conference this season, putting a throw of 56-2.5 to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. His throw placed him seventh overall in the meet and fourth among collegians. He also finished sixth overall and second among collegians with a season-best distance of 196-4 in the hammer, which is also an NCAA Regional qualifying mark, and ranks second among league athletes this season.
Strong Second Day: Junior Tonya Cure moved up eight spots from 10th to second at the Cal Invitational Heptathlon. She tallied 4,966 points over the two-day, seven-event meet, posting a personal best 125-3 in the javelin. She also posted the second-best long jump, 100 hurdles, 200 meters and shot put en route to her second-best heptathlon total.
Putting The Hammer Down: Junior Stacey Poulos qualified for the NCAA Regionals in the hammer with her throw of 178-2 on Friday evening. Poulos and senior Haley Hunt have both now qualified for NCAA Regionals, with Hunt posting a season best throw of 184-9 at the Rob Upton Invitational.
Leaps And Bounds: Freshman Tanesha Johnson continued her dominance in the triple jump. At the Sun Angel Classic, she had a jump of 39-3, and has cleared 39 feet in two of the three meets this season. Her personal best is 39-7.25, which ranks as the second-best jump in school history. The CSU freshman record is 40-0.75 by Amanda Huddleston-Miller from 2002, while the school record is also held by Miller, 41-6 from 2005.
Titleists: Nicole Feest (3000), Janay DeLoach (long jump) and Rob Watson (3000) all won titles at the Sun Angel Classic, while sophomore Niomi Ridge (100 hurdles, 400 hurdles) and senior Denny Majerus (100, 200) each won a pair of titles at the Colorado College Invitational, senior Ryan Kirkpatrick won the 5000 meters at the Mesa Classic and junior Emily Pearson won the heptathlon at the Cal Invitational.
Nine Is Divine: For the ninth time in her outdoor career and the 17th time overall, Janay DeLoach surpassed the 20-foot barrier in a meet. DeLoach owns the school record in both the indoor (21-0.75) and outdoor long jump (20-8) and has been named to the Mountain West All-Conference team a total of six times in the long jump alone.
On Their Way: The 46.47 the quartet of Megan Fox, Tanesha Johnson, Emily Pearson and Janay DeLoach clocked at the Tom Benich Classic is the fastest time at CSU since Fox, Katrice Thomas, Pearson and DeLoach set the school record on May 14, 2005 by running a 45.81 at the Mountain West Championship.
Double Duty: Junior Jason Smith and sophomore Rashaun Greer will be pulling double duty for the next few weeks -- as they are both also football players and involved in spring drills.
What The Regional Mark Means: Student-athletes who meet or surpass the NCAA Regional qualifying mark in their events are eligible to compete at the NCAA Midwest Regional May 25-26 at Drake. The top five in each event at the regionals then qualify for the NCAA Championship June 6-9, hosted by Sacramento State. In the multi-events and 10,000 meters, there is a provisional and automatic qualifying standard as neither is contested at regionals.
Making The List: Several student-athletes have added their name to the CSU record books this season.
• Tanesha Johnson now ranks second in the triple jump at 39-7.25 and seventh in the 100 meters at 12.03.
• Emily Pearson ranks third in the heptathlon with 5,204 points and 13th in the 200 meters at 24.89.
• Danielle Korb (4:29.27), Chantelle Dron (4:30.47), Kirsten Anthony (4:31.73) and Kristen Hemphill (4:34.74) now rank seventh, ninth, 11th and 16th, respectively in the 1500 meters.
• Sonni Russell cleared 5-6.5 during the Glenn Morris heptathlon to rank 15th on the charts.
• Sophomore Kate Colvin cleared 10-11.75 in the pole vault to rank sixth.
• Freshman Jennifer Ugochukwu ranks 18th in the shot put at 43-9.25.
• Haley Hunt moved up to 15th in the discus with her throw of 152-10.
• Freshman Jennifer Mack and sophomore Amanda Johnson rank 18th and 19th, respectively in the hammer.
• Junior Tonya Cure now ranks 15th in the javelin after her throw of 125-3.
• Kristen Kugler ranks 13th and Sonni Russell is 17th in the heptathlon.
• Zach Jordan now ranks 19th in the 100 meters at 10.72.
• Drew Morano ranks second in the 400 meters with his time of 46.73, while freshman Cole Tucker is 19th with a time of 48.47.
• Kyle Keeler moved up into 13th in the 400 meter hurdles with his time of 53.03.
• Steve Swartz is ranked 15th in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:54.20.
• Freshman Kevin Wills is tied for 19th in the high jump with a clearance of 6-6.75.
• Jason Smith now ranks fifth in the triple jump with his leap of 49-0.75, while freshman Ryan Friese now ranks 13th with a leap of 46-9.
• Jason Schutz is now sixth in the discus at 188-3 and 15th in the hammer at 182-4.
• Cameron Carter ranks ninth in the discus with his throw of 178-10.
• Alex Godell is now eighth in the hammer at 192-4.
• Freshman Doug Dieker scored 5801 points in the decathlon to rank 18th.
Bettering Themselves: A host of student-athletes posted personal best marks in events over the weekend. That list follows with the event in parentheses:
Women: Kirsten Anthony (1500 meters); Tonya Cure (javelin); Chantelle Dron (1500 meters); Nicole Feest (3000 meters); Kristen Hemphill (1500 meters); Haley Hunt (discus); Danielle Korb (1500 meters); freshman Kristen Kugler (long jump, shot put); Heather Loseke (1500 meters); Emily Pearson (200 meters, 800 meters, high jump, heptathlon); Sonni Russell (100 hurdles, 800 meters, long jump, shot put, heptathlon); Alison Taylor (mile); Jennifer Ugochukwu (discus).
Men: Cameron Carter (discus); Doug Dieker (100 meters, 110 hurdles, 400 meters, 1500 meters, high jump, long jump, shot put, discus, decathlon); Ryan Friese (triple jump); Ryan Kirkpatrick (3000 meters); Rob Marin (200 meters); Drew Morano (400 meters); Jason Schutz (discus); Steve Swartz (mile); Cole Tucker (200 meters, 400 meters); Rob Watson (3000 meters).
Record Holders Returning: Junior Magnus Lohse returns as the Rams' record holder in the shot put. He threw 62-11.5 in the first meet of the season before battling wrist injuries the rest of the year. Two of the four members of the 4x110 meter shuttle hurdle relay also return in Justin Hazzard and Rashaun Greer. The pair, along with Mike Horton and Kevin Johnson ran a 57.88, bettering the old record of 57.99 held by Horton, Tom Waido, Hazzard and Brian Williams from 2003.
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.