Sprinters, hurdlers lead Rams on second day of Potts Invitational

BOULDER, Colo. – Eight different Rams recorded top-20 times on CSU's all-time indoor list or moved up on that list as the Colorado State track & field team took home wins in nine different events on Saturday at the Potts Invitational. Saturday's action was held from the CU Indoor Practice Facility.

Performances by junior Marybeth Sant headlined a cornucopia of highlights for CSU sprinters on Saturday. Sant ran the top times in both the finals and preliminaries of the 60 meters, clocking a time of 7.47 in prelims, the fifth-fastest time on CSU's all-time indoor list, and a time of 7.52 in finals for the win. The Parker, Colo., native went on to place third in the 200 meters with a time of 24.81, moving her to 11th in the event on the Rams' indoor list. Notably, freshman Jessica Ozoude ran the 60 meters in 7.54 in preliminaries, just .06 seconds shy of her collegiate best.

In the women's 400 meters, freshman Jesmine Chesson placed as the No. 2 collegian with a time of 55.94, the seventh-fastest indoor time in program history. Sophomore Emma Kratzberg placed directly behind her, and moved up to 12th on CSU's all-time indoor list in the event with a time of 57.08. On the men's side, freshman Caleb Hardy took second place in his first collegiate 400 meters after clocking a time of 48.38 to win his heat by just under four seconds. Hardy's time ties for the ninth-best on CSU's all-time indoor list.

Sophomore Ronald Sayles matched his indoor best in the 200 meters to win the event on Saturday, topping the field with a time of 21.49. That time ranks fifth on CSU's all-time indoor list. Freshman E'Lias Sutton took first place in the 60 meters with a time of 6.97 to round out highlights in the individual sprinting events. Colorado State's men's 4x400-meter relay team also placed first on Saturday, winning with a time of 3:15.85.

In men's 60-meter hurdles action, senior Garrett Lane clocked a time of 8.16, improving upon his previous personal best by .22 seconds to place second in the finals. With that time, Lane moves to 12th in the event on CSU's all-time indoor list. The top preliminaries time of the day was run by CSU senior Jalen Hunter, who ran the 60-meter hurdles in a season-best 8.01 and just .02 shy of his personal best. Senior Nick Kravec matched his personal best and the 17th-best time in the event in program history with a time of 8.23 in preliminaries. Hunter placed fourth in the finals (8.18), while Kravec placed sixth (8.45). On the women's side, freshman Destinee Rocker was the top finisher in each of the finals (8.54) and preliminaries (8.53) of the 60-meter hurdles.

The women's 800 meters highlighted middle distance competition for the Rams, as senior Dominique Ward and freshman Hannah Freeman finished within .01 seconds of each other. Ward's time of 2:14.89 was good for fourth place and was just over a second shy of her indoor best, while Freeman's 2:14.90 ranks 13th on CSU's all-time indoor list.

Junior Carson Hume took the top spot in the mile, winning the race and his heat by nearly three seconds. Sophomore Eric Hamer and senior Justin Weinmeister were the top two collegians in the 3,000 meters, finishing with respective times of 8:34.47. The pair placed behind only current CSU freshman Maximilliano Martinez, who ran the 3,000 in 8:32.80 while competing unattached.

Senior Alex Blaho won the shot put for the second consecutive meet as he claimed the top spot in competition on Saturday with a mark of 56-6.5 (17.23m). Senior Austin Blaho placed second with a mark of 54-7.75 (16.65m). CSU also went one-two in the women's shot put, as freshman Tarynn Sieg took the top spot (47-2/14.37m) and sophomore Maria Muzzio placed second (46-6.5/14.18m).

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State sprints and hurdles coach Karim Abdel Wahab
On Marybeth Sant's performances:
"To see Marybeth getting another season best in the 60 meters prelims and see her run in the 24s in the 200 after almost three years of not running is unbelievable. I was really excited. She had some nerves going in to that 200 since it's been a while, but I think this will only give her more confidence that she can be even more aggressive in her next meet. She's still got it, which is amazing."

On Garrett Lane's performance:
"The one PR that I'm really happy about was Garrett Lane's in the 60-meter hurdles. This is his third season with us as a walk-on, but he injured his shoulder in his first year with us as a sophomore. Last year, he only ran in the 8.3s, so to see him run 8.16 was pretty cool to see."

On CSU performances in the women's and men's 400 meters:
"Everything considered – it's the first 400 meters for each of them in college – I thought Jasmine and Caleb competed really well. It's special that Jasmine can run sub-56 seconds in her first meet and hopefully it gets down from there. I thought she competed really well. I was really happy with how Caleb Hardy competed in the 400, running a 48.38. His previous high school PR was a 49.7, so to be able to run that is a big PR for him."

NOTES
- While Jessica Ozoude's 60 meters preliminaries time (7.54) was not a personal best, only six athletes in program history have a faster time in the event.
- Jalen Hunter's 8.01 in the 60-meter hurdles was just .02 seconds shy of a personal best, and is topped by only six athletes in program history.
- Destinee Rocker's winning time of 8.54 in the 60-meter hurdles finals is bested by only five CSU athletes all-time.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team returns to action next week at the Air Force Team Challenge at USAF Academy, Colo. The two-day meet is held on Thursday and Friday next week, and features pentathlon and heptathlon competition on Thursday.

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