Three Rams win titles as CSU men place second, women place third at MW Outdoor Championships

CLOVIS, Calif. – Jalen Hunter, Maria Muzzio and Cole Rockhold of the Colorado State track & field team won individual titles on the final day of the 2018 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the Rams' men placed second and the women finished third in team competition at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Colorado State finished with 183.5 points on the men's side, placing behind only repeat champion Air Force (204 points). The CSU women tallied 106.5 points, finishing narrowly behind UNLV (108 points) and San Diego State (120.5 points), which also repeated.

Rockhold's individual title came in a meet record-setting performance, as he clocked a MW Championships-record time of 13:55.36 for the win in the 5,000 meters. The junior ran at the front of the pack for the entirety of the race, including a last few laps that came down to him and Utah State star Dillon Maggard. The native of Independence, Mo., waited until the final 200 meters to make his move, passing Maggard down the stretch and outkicking the competition to seal the dramatic win. Eric Hamer also scored for the Rams in the 5,000, finishing eighth with a time of 14:16.26.

WHAT. A. RUN!

Cole Rockhold makes the pass and outkicks the competition as he sets a new meet record (13:55.36) in an epic 5,000!

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— CSU Rams T&F/XC (@CSURAMSTRACK) May 13, 2018

Rockhold also went toe-to-toe with all-time NCAA record holder Josh Kerr in the 1,500 meters, battling him all the way to the finish line. Rockhold ended up placing within a second and a half of Kerr, finishing with a third-place time of 3:45.85.

Hunter seized his first conference title in the 110-meter hurdles and the Rams' fourth in seven years, clocking a time of 14.22 to outduel Air Force's then-Mountain West leader, Micah Fontaine. Because this performance was at sea level, Hunter's 14.22 counts as his season best for NCAA qualifying purposes. Senior Garrett Lane also earned a podium finish in the event, placing third with a personal-best time of 14.66.

CHAMPION!

Jalen Hunter (14.22) outduels Air Force's Micah Fontaine to win CSU's first 110-meter hurdles title since 2014!

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— CSU Rams T&F/XC (@CSURAMSTRACK) May 13, 2018

Destinee Rocker broke Colorado State's freshman record in the women's 100-meter hurdles once again on Saturday, but this time, her mark also broke the program's all-time record. Rocker took second place in the final with a time of 13.21, passing the former school record of 13.26 set by former All-American Lorenda Holston. In addition to the school record, Rocker's time also ranks fourth in meet history. Also scoring in the women's hurdles was fellow freshman Annemarie Carlson, who placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.86.

A common theme for the Rams on Saturday was sacrifice, and the hurdles produced an example of that en route to another podium finish. With the Rams locked in a tight team scoring battle with Air Force, Darius Smith laid out to ensure his third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles and give himself a shot at a second-place finish. Smith finished with a time of 52.67, .02 seconds behind the second-place finisher and less than two tenths of a second ahead of the fourth-place finisher.

Great effort down the stretch by Darius Smith (52.67), who places in the top three for a podium finish in the men's 400-meter hurdles.

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?? Live Results: https://t.co/uRDF3Omfau #ProudToBe | #CSURams pic.twitter.com/qI9tOGvJEz
— CSU Rams T&F/XC (@CSURAMSTRACK) May 13, 2018

The discus was a high-scoring event for the Rams on each of the women's and men's sides, highlighted by Muzzio's conference title in the women's discus. Muzzio used a big personal-best to clinch the Rams' third women's discus title in the past five years, and ranks as the No. 9 performer in the event in CSU history with her winning mark of 175-6 (53.50m). The sophomore was one of five Rams to score in the discus, along with Kelcey Bedard (fourth - 169-3/51.58m) on the women's side, as well as Mostafa Hassan (second – 176-5/53.77m), Bailey King (fourth – 170-1/51.85m) and Alex Blaho (sixth - 166-4/50.70m) in men's competition.

CHAMPION!

Sophomore Maria Muzzio records the No. 9 mark in program history (175-6/53.50m) to win the #MWOTF title in the women's discus!

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?? Live Results: https://t.co/uRDF3Omfau #ProudToBe | #CSURams pic.twitter.com/eV9bI9jQyz
— CSU Rams T&F/XC (@CSURAMSTRACK) May 13, 2018

After two Rams reached the podium in the women's high jump on Friday, sophomore Trenton Wallace jumped his way to the podium in men's competition on Saturday. Wallace cleared 6-11.5 (2.12m), a season best, to take second place. Uche Obinnah also scored for the Rams in the men's high jump, taking fifth place with a mark of 6-8 (2.03m). Two Rams also flew high in the women's pole vault, each recording a mark of 12-6 (3.81m) to combine for 5.5 points. Aliya Simpson placed fifth based upon number of misses, while Josie Spitz tied for seventh.

Each relay produced a podium finish for the Rams on Saturday, with the women's 4x400-meter relay adding a program record. Michelle Gould, Jessica Ozoude, Jasmine Chesson and Annemarie Carlson combined to clock a time of 3:40.63, placing third and dethroning a CSU record that had stood since 2005. On the men's side, Caleb Hardy, Ronald Sayles, Smith and Hunter combined to run a 4x400-meter relay time of 3:14.90 and also finished third.

The Rams were third in each of the 4x100-meter relays, with the men's race producing another selfless performance by a Ram. Will Domier anchored the men's squad that included Hunter, Sayles and Nathan Gish, and was forced to gut out a third-place finish after pulling a muscle down the stretch. The men's team finished in 41.42, while Marybeth Sant, Lettia Wilson, Ozoude and Rocker combined for a time of 45.01 in the women's race.

Big-time effort from Will Domier.

CSU's anchor in some discomfort on the backstretch, but perseveres to preserve our third-place finish in the men's 4x100-meter relay.

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?? Live Results: https://t.co/uRDF3Omfau #ProudToBe | #CSURams pic.twitter.com/F8bpde42Vq
— CSU Rams T&F/XC (@CSURAMSTRACK) May 13, 2018

Danny Baumgardt registered the second podium performance for the Rams in the horizontal jumps this weekend, as he took third place in the triple jump with a mark of 47-4.5 (14.44m). Lindsay Read scored for the Rams in the triple on the women's side, clearing 39-7 (12.06m) to place seventh and score two points.

In addition to his role on the relay, Gish scored in a pair of sprints for the Rams on Saturday, taking fifth place in each of the 200 meters (21.61) and the 100 meters (10.79). Sayles also scored in the 200, and was the Rams' top finisher, clocking a time of 21.51 for fourth place.

Highlighting performances in the sprints for the Rams' women was Ozoude's 200 meters effort, as she finished just shy of her own program record (23.69 on Saturday; personal best/CSU record is 23.65) in a fourth-place finish. Chesson also scored for the Rams in the sprints, running a time of 55.09 in the women's 400 meters to place seventh. Rounding out scorers on the track for the CSU women was Dominique Ward, who scored a pair of points for the Rams with seventh-place finish and time of 4:27.78 in the 1,500.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Brian Bedard
"We knew it was going to be a battle, and I'm proud of my team. I thought they laid it on the line. We had guys crashing on the track and pushing through injuries…they left it all out there. We knew we had to have that kind of effort to win this weekend. We had a few areas where we came up a bit short, but I'm proud of the way we competed. They represented CSU well."

On Maria Muzzio's conference title:
"I knew she could be all-conference, but it was a nice surprise for us. She had thrown well at practice and in warm-ups, so it was just a matter of putting it together in a meet. After seeing her warm up, I knew that if she kept her composure she could certainly finish in the top three. She competed at her potential, which is hard to do, but it was a great time to do it. That was great to see."

On Cole Rockhold:
"Cole's performance at this meet was probably the highlight. That's an extremely tough double, and he beat a stud (Dillon Maggard) that's tough to beat and was rested. He was all set up to win a conference title, and Cole didn't let him have it. What he did today was inspirational to the whole team."

Colorado State sprints and hurdles coach Karim Abdel Wahab
On record-setting performances in the women's 4x400-meter relay and by Destinee Rocker:
"I'm really proud of them. They've worked hard and have learned to become aggressive competitors. I couldn't have asked for better performances in either the 4x400 or the hurdles. Destinee (Rocker) came out of the indoor season wanting to be a conference champion and the fastest freshman in the conference. She didn't quite get the conference title, but she got the school record and improved her national standing."

On Jalen Hunter:
"I'm proud of him. He looked good in the final, and with how aggressive he was midway through the race, I knew that if he kept going he'd win. Seeing him win his first conference title…he's a senior, so this was his last conference championship. It was sweet to see him get his championship."

NOTES
- Of the Mountain West schools that have both a men's and women's track & field team, Colorado State's average finish between its men's and women's team of 2.5 is the highest. Each of Utah State (men – fourth, women – fifth) and New Mexico (men – third, women – sixth) have an average finish of 4.5.
- Colorado State has finished no lower than third at the MW Outdoor Championships on the men's side over the past six years, placing first or second at five of those meets.
- Colorado State has finished third or higher in each of the past seven MW Outdoor Championships on the women's side. In four of those seasons, CSU has placed first or second.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team will have a week away from competition before qualifying athletes compete at the NCAA West Preliminary from May 24-26 in Sacramento, Calif. The list of qualifying athletes will be announced in the coming days.

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