Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Tom Benich Invitational
Recap: Rams win eight events at Tom Benich Invitational
4/2/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Final Results
GREELEY, Colo. - The Colorado State track & field team won eight events at the Tom Benich Invitational at Nottingham Field on Sunday.
Of the eight events claimed by the Rams on Sunday, six were in field events and two were in running events. Five of the eight were won by the women's team, while the CSU men won three events.
The top event of the meet for the Rams on Sunday was the women's hammer throw, in which each of Linnea Jonsson and Kelcey Bedard recorded personal bests en route to a 1-2 finish. Jonsson won the event with a mark of 200-8 (61.17m), the third-best mark in program history, while Bedard threw the hammer 199-1 (60.70m), the fourth-best mark in program history. Bedard added her second personal best of the day with a discus mark of 173-10 (52.99m), the 10th-best in the event in program history.
The top performance in running events for the CSU women on Sunday was a 1-2-3 finish by the Rams in the 400 meters. Emily Romo won the event with a time of 54.58, while Leah Fair (56.50) placed second and Abby Simpson (56.90) finished third.
The CSU women also took the top two spots in the 400-meter hurdles, as Emma Kratzberg took the top spot with a time of 1:01.33 and Gabby Pajak claimed second place with a time of 1:02.17. Kratzberg moves up to 14th on CSU's all-time outdoor list for her performance, while Pajak is now CSU's 20th-ranked athlete in the event. Pajak also ran a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles, with her time of 14.06 ranking 10th in program history.
Rounding out notable performers in the sprints was freshman Kayla Pnnit, who recorded the 20th-best time in program history (12.21) in the 100 meters on Sunday.
CSU went 1-2-3-4 in the 10-athlete men's high jump field. Trenton Wallace won the event for the second time to open his outdoor collegiate career with a mark of 6-6.75 (2.00m) and the fewest number of misses. Nick Meihaus and Uche Obinnah placed second and third, respectively, with the same height. Collin Scheer followed in fourth place with a mark of 6-4.75 (1.95m).
The Rams also had the top two finishers on the women's side of the high jump, as McKenzie Wright (5-7/1.70m) placed first and Isobel Brown (5-5/1.65m) place second. Autumn Gardner placed fourth based upon misses with the same height as Brown.
For the second straight weekend, the Rams had the No. 1 and 2 finishers in the men's shot put. Alex Blaho won the event with a mark of 56-4.75 (17.19m), while Daniel Weirich finished runner-up with a mark just one inch shy of Blaho's (56-3.75/17.16m). On the women's side of the shot put, Maria Muzzio recorded a mark of 45-7.75 (13.91m), an outdoor best and the 19th-best in program history.
Aliya Simpson won the women's pole vault with a mark of 11-7.75 (3.55m). Gabby Smith finished third with a vault of 11-1.75 (3.40m).
Dalten Fox won the men's long jump with a best leap of 22-9 (6.93m). Amelia Harvey placed third in the women's long jump with a mark of 18-9 (5.69m), the 13th-best in program history. Harvey also moved up to ninth on the CSU all-time outdoor list in the triple jump with a leap of 38-11 (11.86m). Wright matched Harvey's mark, while Tarah Vijayasarathy leapt 37-10.5 (11.54m) as the Rams took the No. 2 through No. 4 spots in the event. Vijayasarathy moved up to 17th in CSU history in the event with her mark.
IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Brian Bedard
"We saw some good things happen in several event areas. The women's hammer was pretty special. We got some things done today. It was a good move to move the meet to Sunday (originally scheduled for Saturday) because we had great weather all day. It was another step forward for us as far as development for our team. I was encouraged by today."
On Linnea Jonsson's performance:
"I expected a 60-to-61-meter throw last week from Linnea (Jonsson), because she's been doing some things in training that we're really excited about. I thought we'd see a throw in that neighborhood last week, but I'll take it this week for sure."
NOTES
- The Tom Benich Invitational was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the meet was moved to Sunday to avoid inclement weather on Saturday.
- Linnea Jonsson is the third athlete in program history to throw over 200 feet in the women's hammer (Loree Smith, Kiah Hicks).
- Kelcey Bedard improved her personal best in the discus by over 14 feet.
- Emily Romo won an event for the third straight meet, dating back to the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships.
UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team is slated to return to action next weekend at the Colorado Invite in Boulder, Colo.
