Record-breaking performances by Gardner, Ozoude headline barrage of highlights at NoCo Challenge

GREELEY, Colo. – Colorado State track & field's Autumn Gardner and Jessica Ozoude each produced record-breaking performances to highlight multiple personal-best efforts at the NoCo Challenge held at Nottingham Field on Sunday.

Gardner entered the meet at Colorado State's No. 2 all-time indoor and outdoor high jumper, and leapt to the Rams' all-time No. 1 outdoor spot with a jump of 6-0.5 (1.84 m) on Sunday. With that mark, the senior ranks third in the NCAA in the women's high jump, tops in the Mountain West, 21st in the world and sixth all-time in Mountain West history. McKenzie Wright took second in the high jump (5-9.25/1.76m), while Kate McCain improved upon her previous personal best by four inches to clear 5-7.75 (1.61m) and take third. McCain becomes the No. 19 performer in the event on CSU's all-time outdoor list with her performance.

Previously the holder of the freshman record in the event, Ozoude climbed to the top of the CSU all-time list in the women's 200 meters with a time of 23.65. The Sparks, Nev., native ran that time, which currently would rank as a qualifying time for the NCAA West Preliminaries, despite running against a headwind of -0.9 m/s. Three more Rams registered top-20 times in the event on Sunday, including Jasmine Chesson (24.35 – 10th), Marybeth Sant (24.61 – 16th) and Destinee Rocker (24.80 – 19th).

Three CSU women also flew high in the pole vault, each clearing the 12-foot mark. Each of Gabby Smith and Aliya Simpson cleared 12-6.25 (3.82m), with the mark ranking as a new collegiate best for Simpson. Josie Spitz was the third to top 12 feet, placing third in the event with a mark of 12-0.5 (3.67m). With her new collegiate best, Simpson moves up to No. 6 on CSU's all-time outdoor list. On the men's side, Hayden Williams topped a personal-best 15-9.75 (4.82m) to move to 16th on CSU's all-time outdoor list.

Performances in the horizontal jumps rounded out a banner day for the Rams' jumpers. Lindsay Read took the top spot in the women's triple jump with a mark of 39-9.75 (12.13m), which ranks sixth on CSU's all-time outdoor list. Amelia Harvey placed second in the triple with a mark of 39-1.75 (11.93m), and finished as the top collegian in the long jump with a distance of 18-8.5 (5.70m). Harvey's triple jump mark ranks 10th on CSU's all-time outdoor list, while her long jump mark is just half an inch shy of her outdoor best. In men's competition, freshman Isa Bynum cleared 22-10 (6.96m) to win the long jump.

Kelcey Bedard won the women's discus throw with a mark of 162-8 (52.73m), and led a 1-2-3 finish for the Rams in the women's hammer (201-2/61.31m). Aimee Larrabee (196-9/59.98m) registered a personal best for the second straight week to take second, while Linnea Jonsson (195-0/59.44m) placed third. Larrabee's mark moves her up to sixth on CSU's all-time outdoor list. On the men's side, Alex Blaho (163-6/49.85m) won the discus, while Bailey King recorded the No. 20 mark on CSU's all-time outdoor list to win the hammer (187-3/57.07m).

On the track, Rocker continued her hot start to her outdoor collegiate career with another dominant performance in the 100-meter hurdles. The freshman finished with a time of 13.58, topping the rest of the field by nearly half of a second. On the men's side, Jalen Hunter took first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.37, defeating Mountain West leader Micah Fontaine, among others. Rounding out top efforts in the hurdles was Emma Kratzberg's performance in the 400-meter hurdles, as she took first place with a time of 1:00.85.

Rounding out event wins on the track on the men's side was a victory in the 800 meters for Blake Yount, who finished with a time of 1:51.87. Lettia Wilson was the top finisher in the women's 100 meters after clocking a time of 11.64 (wind: 2.1).Other highlights in the sprints included Ronald Sayles' 200 meters time of 21.27 (wind: -1.3), which is topped by only seven other athletes in program history and is just .05 seconds shy of his outdoor best.

In additional highlights in the throws, the Rams secured the top two spots in the men's shot put behind a personal-best mark of 57-6.5 (17.54m) by Austin Blaho. Alex Blaho accounted for the second spot, finishing with a best throw of 55-2 (16.81m). Austin Blaho's new personal-best mark places him at No. 15 on CSU's all-time outdoor records list. On the women's side, Maria Muzzio registered a best throw of 46-11.5 (14.31m) to place as the top collegian and finish second only to CSU freshman Tarynn Sieg (49-5.75/15.08m), who competed unattached on Sunday.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head assistant coach Ryan Baily
On Autumn Gardner's performance:
"What I saw today was that for Autumn to have a legitimate shot at 1.84 (meters), our school record, she had to jump 1.80 with ease and not think too much into it. That's exactly what happened. She jumped 1.80, she relaxed, and she found a way to make 1.84. She competed out of her mind and it was exciting to see."

Colorado State sprints and hurdles coach Karim Abdel Wahab
On Jessica Ozoude's performance:
"I think she's on the right track. It's awesome to see her running in the 23.6s in a headwind, especially since the next closest person was in the 24.3s. It will be exciting to see her in bigger competition next week in California and to see her in better conditions to see what she can do. IT's exciting because a performance like this can indicate a PR in the 400 meters as well. We'll keep working hard and see what happens from here."

NOTES
- Autumn Gardner's performance vaulted her from 74th in the nation in the high jump to third.
- Destinee Rocker has won each 100-meter hurdles race she has competed in this season.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team will travel to California next week for one of its most important stretches of the outdoor season. The Rams will look for big marks at the Mt. SAC Relays (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate (Thursday) and the Long Beach Invite (Friday and Saturday).

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results