Ozoude, Rocker set CSU freshman records on day two of Mines Nature’s Bakery Invite

GOLDEN, Colo. – Jessica Ozoude and Destinee Rocker set Colorado State freshman records in their respective outdoor collegiate debuts to lead the Rams on day two of the Mines Nature's Bakery Invite. Saturday's competition was held from the Stermole Track & Field Complex.

Ozoude set her freshman record in the 200 meters, as she won the event on Saturday by nearly three tenths of a second with a time of 23.82. In addition to being the fastest freshman in the event in program history, the Sparks, Nev., native also ranks second on CSU's all-time outdoor list in the 200 meters regardless of class.

Rocker, who is coming off an All-Mountain West indoor campaign in the 60-meter hurdles, won her first collegiate 100-meter hurdles race with a CSU freshman-record time of 13.45. The native of Lithonia, Ga., ranks second in program history in the event behind only fellow Georgia native and former CSU All-American Lorenda Holston (13.26).

Joining Ozoude with an impressive debut in the outdoor 200 meters was fellow freshman Jasmine Chesson, who placed third in the event with the No. 14 time on CSU's all-time list (24.53). Ozoude also won the 400 meters with a time of 54.59, the No. 6 time in the event in program history. Chesson placed third in the 400 with the No. 13 time on CSU's all-time outdoor list (55.53), while Michelle Gould placed fourth with the No. 20 outdoor 400 time in CSU history (56.59).

Highlighting action in the field events for Colorado State were performances in the women's hammer, where the Rams took the top three spots. Kelcey Bedard opened her outdoor campaign with a mark of 203-6.75 (62.04m). Linnea Jonsson placed second after throwing the hammer 193-7.5 (59.01m), while Aimee Larrabee placed third with a mark of 184-4 (56.18m). Bedard added a discus mark of 163-10.5 (49.94m) for a second-place finish a couple of hours later.

In sprints on the men's side, Ronald Sayles was the top collegian in the 200 meters with a time of 21.31, and clocked the No. 6 time on CSU's all-time outdoor list to place as the top collegian in the 400 meters (47.11). Jalen Hunter won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.58, which ranks 15th on CSU's all-time outdoor list.

Rounding out top performances in the sprints and hurdles were performances by Annemarie Carlson and Darius Smith in the 400-meter hurdles. Carlson won the women's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.84, the No. 19 time on CSU's all-time outdoor list. Smith clocked a time of 52.55 to finish as the top collegian on the men's side.

Leading the Rams in their first heptathlon of the outdoor season was Gabby Smith, who placed second with 4,669 points. Talia Marquez scored 4,621 points in her first heptathlon for the Rams, while Amelia Harvey tallied 4,596 points in her first collegiate heptathlon. Smith's score ranks 17th in program history, while Marquez's ranks 18th and Harvey's places 19th. Among the top performances during multi-event competition was Smith's time of 2:26.27, which was the fastest in the field. On the men's side, Eric Lundgren closed his first collegiate decathlon with CSU's all-time No. 19 score (6,377 points).

Three Rams had top-20 marks on CSU's all-time women's pole vault list, led by Josie Spitz, who finished as the top collegian with CSU's all-time No. 7 mark (12-3.25/3.74m). Tate Thornton cleared 11-7.25 (3.54m) in her collegiate outdoor debut to move to 13th all-time at CSU, while Bridget Kelly's mark of 11-1.5 (3.39m) ranks 17th all-time. On the men's side, Hayden Williams cleared 15-9 (4.80m), a personal-best by nearly eight inches and the No. 16 mark on CSU's all-time outdoor list. Rounding out top performances in field events for CSU was Lindsay Read's triple jump mark of 38-6.75 (11.75m), which ranks 13th on CSU's all-time outdoor list.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Brian Bedard
"Sometimes you don't know what to expect on opening weekend, but when our staff reviewed how we did across the board in all of the event areas, we had quite a few highlights. I thought it was very encouraging for our first meet. The kids had a great attitude and we were fortunate enough for nice weather today. I don't think it could have turned out much better for a first meet. I think the staff and athletes are excited for how things went today."

Colorado State sprints and hurdles coach Karim Abdel Wahab
"I'm excited for our sprinters and hurdlers. They're a great young group that's been working and competing hard. We want to make sure we challenge them enough to reach their potential, so I'm really happy with their performances. It's still early, and they competed well and showed what they're capable of. We're trying to see if we can cause some damage at the Mountain West Championships and hopefully at preliminaries and nationals."

NOTES
- Lettia Wilson and Marybeth Sant took the top two spots in the 100 meters with respective times of 11.60 and 11.64. Those times would normally rank within CSU's all-time top five in the event, but both were wind-aided ( 2.4 each) and are not eligible for consideration for that list. However, both will count toward NCAA qualification as they are under the +4.0 threshold.
- Colorado State also picked up individual victories in each of the women's and men's high jump. Trenton Wallace cleared 6-8.25 (2.04m) on the men's side, while Autumn Gardner's winning mark on the women's side was 5-8 (1.73m).
- Other than Kelcey Bedard, only three other athletes in program history have a mark of 200 feet or better in the women's hammer throw (Linnea Jonsson, Kiah Hicks and Loree Smith).

UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team returns to action next weekend for competition at a pair of meets, the Stanford Invitational and the Tom Benich Invite. The Stanford Invitational will be held from Friday, March 30 to Saturday, March 31 from Cobb Track and Angell Field in Stanford, Calif. The Tom Benich Invite is slated for competition all day on Saturday, March 31 from Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo.

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