Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
NCAA Championships
Schutz claims Rams' second All-America honor
6/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Outdoor Track & Field
June 13, 2008
By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations
DES MOINES, Iowa - Jason Schutz on Friday picked up where Janay DeLoach left off.
Like DeLoach, Schutz became an All-American for the second straight season. The Colorado State senior concluded his college eligibility sixth in the nation in the discus at the NCAA championships at Drake Stadium, with a throw of 186 feet, 3 inches.
"I thought he competed with a lot of composure," Head Coach Brian Bedard said. "He came in this week ranked 11th and placed sixth. He finished out his career well. I think he could've been in the top three if he threw like he was capable of throwing, but I also had to remind him that he beat some very good guys. You have to keep this in perspective."
Schutz, who finished eighth in 2007 to earn his initial All-America honor at last year's NCAA championships, becomes the fifth athlete in Colorado State history to receive back-to-back All-America accolades in the men's discus, further solidifying the university's reputation as one of the elite throwing programs in the nation.
He joins Chester Cruikshank (1934-35), Marshall Smith (1974-75), Casey Malone (1996-98), and Brian Trainor (2000-01) in achieving consecutive All-America honors in the men's discus. Overall, the Rams have had an All-American in the event on 15 occasions, including Fum McGraw's performance in 1949 and Malone's national championship in 1998.
"I'm proud of him and his career with us," Bedard said, reflecting on Schutz's place in school annals. "It's been a real pleasure to coach him. It's been five years of building him up and moving him in the right direction. I think it was four years ago, I said, `Schutz, we've got a long ways to go and not a lot of time to get there; I'm either going to coach you to quit, or coach you to be a champion.' And he got real close to being a champion.
"I said, `I need to know whether you're in or you're out,' and he said he was in. And this is a real tribute to his work ethic, and it's nice to see it recognized on a national stage. Five years ago, he showed up on our campus from little Chromo, Colo., Pagosa Springs, and to see him finish not too far from the top, with a shot at winning this thing, it was awful exciting."
Kentucky's Rashaud Scott (199-08) won the national title, while Yemi Ayeni from Virginia, Clendon Henderson from Liberty, Leif Arrhenius from BYU and Russ Winger from Idaho finished ahead of Schutz. Greg Garza from UCLA and Martin Maric from Cal rounded out the All-Americans, taking seventh and eighth, respectively.
Heptathlon begins
Friday also saw CSU's Emily Pearson and Katie Lloyd embark on the two-day heptathlon competition. Pearson ended the first day in 10th, while Lloyd finished 15th. The two athletes competed in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meter dash. They'll get their last shot at All-America honors Saturday, when the competition finishes with the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.
Both Bedard and assistant Tim Cawley were impressed with their initial efforts.
"I thought they both had a really solid first day," Bedard said. "Coach Cawley and I were happy with where they're at. They had no big mistakes and set themselves up good for the second day. Emily definitely has the best shot to get All-American; Katie has a ways to go, but she's not out of it by any means. They both have a shot because they were aggressive on the first day."
Pearson and Lloyd will be the only CSU athletes competing on Saturday, the final day of the NCAA championships.
Other action Friday
Both Kristen Hemphill and Drew Morano fell short of All-America recognition in their respective events, despite outstanding individual seasons.
Hemphill finished 13th in the national finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Colorado's Jenny Barringer won the event.
"She lost contact midway in the race and struggled," Bedard said. "She fell off a little bit. It was a tough day for her, a tough ending to a really good year. We get her back next year, though, so it obviously was a great experience."
Meanwhile, Morano missed advancing to the national finals in the 400-meter dash by less than a second, finishing 12th in the semifinal competition.
"It was pretty disappointing," Bedard said of Morano, who also concluded his college career Friday. "He looked good through the first 200. He was where he wanted to be through about 300 meters. Then, at about the top of the straightaway with 100 meters to go, it looked like he started to tie up a little. I don't know if his legs were with him. His legs might've been heavy. He wasn't as relaxed as his previous three races.
"You know, when you're at the NCAAs and you're headed down the straightaway with the best in the country and 12,000 people in the stands, that's an intense situation."
