Rams Tuned Up for Mountain West Indoor Championships

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Believe or not, the last time the Colorado State track and field program made the 509-mile voyage from the Glenn Morris Fieldhouse to the Albuquerque Convention Center for the Mountain West Indoor Championships, COVID-19 wasn't really a thing yet.

A week after the 2020 conference meet, the pandemic shut down the NCAA Indoor Championships and the dominos fell. Now 725 days later, the indoor meet is back after a hiatus in 2020. Thursday starts the 22^nd-running of the MW Indoor Track & Field Championships and goes through Saturday, Feb. 26^th in Albuquerque, N.M.

Per usual, the action will start with the men's heptathlon (10 a.m.) and women's pentathlon (11 a.m.) as well as the distance medley relays (4 p.m.) for day one. The latter two will provide the meet's first points, while the men's multi will restart Friday at 10 a.m. and conclude after its final three events. Friday's field events commence at 12:30, while the gun for the running events doesn't fire until 1:30 and consists of mostly qualifying rounds except for the 5,000-meter races at the end of the day. Championship Saturday has an early wake-up call with field events getting underway at 9:30 a.m. and finals of the track races at 11:10. The 4x400-meter relays – the signature finale event – is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.

Live results can be found at https://csura.ms/3HfbgBg. The Mountain West will be streaming the entirety of the meet through two links (Field Events - https://csura.ms/3BNbBKn; Track Events – https://csura.ms/3vd6FNq). The MW headquarters has all the need-to-know information here.

The CSU men are the two-time defending Mountain West Indoor Championships, and collectively have won the last four overall conference titles, starting with the 2019 indoor meet. The women finished runner-up in last May's outdoor conference meet and were third in MW's last installment of the indoor meet in 2020. However, between 2016-19, the women won five titles including sweeps in 2016 and 2019.

A total of 70 top-20 school marks have been obtained through the course of the season with the women grabbing 45 of them and the men achieving 25. Within those marks, there have been nine school records (Lexie Keller, Pentathlon; Lauren Gale, 400m; Lauren Gale, 200m; Megan Mooney, mile; Lily Tomasula-Martin, 5,000m; Celyn Stermer, pole vault; Tom Willems, 400m; and both 4x400-meter relays).

On the NCAA Indoor Performance List, the Rams have 12 total marks in the top 50 between the women and men. Looking ahead to the NCAA Championships, the top 16 declared student-athletes per event will be accepted into the national meet. The NCAA Championships will be hosted in Birmingham, Ala., occurring March 11^th-12^th.

Coaches' Corner
Head coach Brian Bedard
"With the weather and COVID issues this past week, we are ecstatic and relieved to just be down here ready to go and practicing. Both teams are ready for the challenge to win championships. We don't train for second place. Our student-athletes have that same mentality. Since we had a bye week, our team is rested and dialed in for this week's action. The conference meet is always fun as we are all here at the same meet and the points add up to mean something beyond PRs and records. We are excited to see how these two groups compete for each other."

Championship Rosters
MEN
Germain Barnes, Ryan Birkmeier, Mason Brown, Jacob Brueckman, Allam Bushara, Isa Bynum, Jack Cauble, Adam Dawson, Andrew Doctor, John Fulton, Mauricio Galindo Vega, Kamal-Craig Golaube, Eldridge Harris, Mariano Kis, Dawson LaRance, Eric Lundgren, Liam Mather, Jackson Morris, Tanner Norman, Tom Oates, Cameron Ross, Elijah Scott, Adam Stark, Kelley Stephens, Cory Taylor, Drew Thompson, DeVon Washington, Tom Willems

WOMEN
Tarynn Sieg (Bown), Claudia Burgess, Bailee Carr, Sarah Carter, Emily Chaston, Tameryn Coryell, Jahzara Davis, Lauren Gale, Grace Goldsworthy, Ivy Gonzales, Michaela Hawkins, Ashlyn Hillyard, Janyah Jasper, Yolonda Johnson, Lexie Keller, Jordan Lanning, Gabi McDonald, Megan Mooney, Lauren Neugeboren, Lauren Offerman, Jessica Ozoude, Anna Petr, Annabel Stafford, Morgan Stewart, Lily Tomasula-Martin, Makayla Williams

NCAA Indoor Performance List Top-50 (Colorado State)
Women
21st; 200 meters, Ozoude
12th; 200 meters, Gale
4th; 400 meters, Gale
42nd; 5,000 meters, Tomasula-Martin
46th; 5,000 meters, Stafford
38th; 4x400m Relay (Yolonda Johnson, Jessica Ozoude, Grace Goldsworthy, Lauren Gale)
37th; Shot Put, McDonald
12th; Pentathlon, Keller
46th; Pentathlon, Lanning

Men
26th; 400 meters, Willems
44th; Triple Jump, Bushara
41st; Shot Put, Kis

Top Ram Seedings
WOMEN
The Rams are favored to win five events.

60 Meter: Jasper (No. 2)
200 Meter: Gale (No. 1), Ozoude (No. 2)
400 Meter: Gale (No. 1), Goldsworthy (No. 4), Johnson (No. 5)
800 Meter: Carr (No. 4)
Mile: Mooney (No. 3), Petr (No. 4)
3000m: Offerman (No. 3)
5000m: Tomasula-Martin (No. 5)
60mH: Keller (No. 3)
4x400m (No. 1)
High Jump: Lanning (No. 2), Keller (No. 5)
Pole Vault: Stermer (No. 3), Coryell (No. 5)
Shot Put: McDonald (No. 1), Sieg (No. 2), Hawkins (No. 4)
Weight Throw: Sieg (No. 2)
Pentathlon: Keller (No. 1), Lanning (No. 4)

MEN
The Rams are favored to win four events.

200m: Willems (No. 1), Stephens (No. 4)
400m: Willems (No. 2), Washington (No. 5)
800m: Ross (No. 2), Birkmeier (No. 3)
Mile: Oates (No.5)
5000m: Norman (No.2)
60mH: Mather (No.2), Barnes (No. 4)
4x400m (No. 1)
Pole Vault: Harris (No. 5)
Triple Jump: Bushara (No. 2)
Shot Put: Kis (No. 1)
Weight Throw: Kis (No. 1), Dawson (No. 5)

What to Watch For?

Hurdling Rams: Andrew Doctor, Liam Mather, Kamal-Craig Golaube and Germain Barnes will all be competing in the 60-meter hurdle race. The first three swept the 110mH at the MW Outdoor Championships last year. Barnes is the reigning 60mH champion from 2019.
Women Multis: Lexie Keller and Jordan Lanning look to extend CSU's streak of having two women in the top three of a mutli at the conference meet. Last outdoor, Lanning and Keller finished second and third, respectively. At the 2020 indoor meet, Amelia Harvey took second, while Keller was third.
200 Rams: After missing last year's MW outdoor meet due to injury, Jessica Ozoude is back to defend her MW indoor 200m crown, however she's the No. 2 seed behind teammate Lauren Gale. On the men's side, Tom Willems is projected to win.
400 Rams: Lauren Gale is 4-for-4 in winning the 400m at conference meets. She swept indoor and outdoor as a freshman in 2019 and then she won indoor in 2020 and outdoor in 2021. On the men's side, Willems has the No. 2 seed. Both own CSU's indoor records.
ThrowingU vs. the Field: Tarynn Sieg-Bown won 5-of-6 weight throws she competed in this season, while Gabi McDonald can say the same about the shot put. Both are favorites to win the events and if they do win, that would be the third-straight MW indoor in which the Rams have swept the events. On the men's side, Mariano Kis has four shot put wins out of seven tries including the third-best throw in school history. He also has four top-3 places in the weight throw. He enters this weekend as the No. 1 seed in both. The last men's student-athlete to sweep was Leif Arrhenius of BYU in 2011.
4x400m Relay: Both the men and women set school records at the Colorado Invitational earlier this season and both are the No. 1 seeds this weekend.

A Look Back at 2021 MW Championships
It has been 283 days since the CSU men raised its last MW Track and Field Championship trophy albeit this was an outdoor one. The CSU women finished second behind champion San Diego State. For a full breakdown, check out the recap.
MEN

From the 2021 MW Outdoor Championship Team, 155 of the 196 points or 79% return (Not counting relays).
Four of the six individual champions return: LaRance (800), Doctor (110mH), Bynum (LJ), Kis (SP).
Other Returning All-MW (1^st-3^rd): Willems (200 & 400), Washington (400), Mather (110mH), Brueckman (1500), Golaube (110mH), Bushara (TJ), Dawson (DT).
True Freshman appearance: Harris (PV, 4^th)

WOMEN

From the 2021 MW Outdoor Championship Team, 110.5 points return out of the 137.5 scored. (Not counting relays).
Two of the three individual champions return: Gale (400) and Sieg (SP).
Other returning All-MW (1^st-3^rd): McDonald (2^nd in SP & 3^rd in DT), Sieg (3^rd in HT), Lanning (2^nd in Hept.), Keller (3^rd in Hept.).
True Freshmen appearance: Jasper (5^th in 100 & 13^th in 200), Goldsworthy (9^th in 400).

A Further Look Back at 2020 MW Indoor Championships
It has been 725 days since CSU raised the MW Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship trophy. The CSU women finished third behind champion UNLV and runner-up San Diego State. For a full breakdown, check out the recap.
MEN

From the 2019 MW Indoor Championship team, 96 of 149 points or 64.4% remain (Not counting relays).
Germain Barnes (60mH) is the only individual champion returner.
Lots of freshmen appearances: Vega (3^rd in Hept. & 10^th in TJ), Kis (4^th in SP & 5^th in WT), Willems (2^nd in 400), Washington (8^th in 400), Bushara (4^th in TJ & 10^th in LJ), Birkmeier (6^th in 800), Oates (11^th in Mile Prelims).
Other Returning All-MW performers (1^st-3^rd place): Dawson (2^nd, WT), Lundgren (2^nd, Hept.), Galindo Vega (3^rd, Hept.), Bynum (2^nd, TJ), Doctor (60mH).

WOMEN

From the 2019 MW Indoor third-place team, 56.5 of the 94.5 points or 59.7% remain (Not counting relays).
Sieg – now Sieg (Bown) after she got married last summer – is the one of two individual champion returners, but she did so twice, winning the shot put and weight throw. Gale won her third MW 400m title, joining her 2019 title sweep (Indoor & Outdoor).
Notable freshmen appearances: Carr (6^th in 800), Lanning (7^th in HJ & 7^th in Pent.), Stermer (6^th in PV), Hillyard (9^th in 5000), Coryell (7^th in PV), Stewart (18^th in SP & 15^th in WT).
Other Returning All-MW performers (1^st-3^rd place): Ozoude (3^rd, 200), Keller (3^rd, Pent.)

Who Remains from the CSU Sweep of the 2019 MW Indoor Champions?
In 2019, the Ram men and women won the conference indoor titles, obtaining their second sweep in three seasons (2017).
MEN

Brueckman (8^th, Mile), Golaube (3^rd, 60mH), Doctor (7^th, 60mH), Bynum (2^nd, TJ), Taylor (9^th, TJ), Morris (3^rd, SP), Lundgren (SP, 5^th).

WOMEN

Ozoude (4^th, 60; 1^st, 200), Gale (1^st, 400), Tomasula-Martin (21^st, 3000), Keller (10^th, HJ), Sieg (1^st, SP),

The Most Veteran
Went down a rabbit hole here. Who's competing this weekend that also competed four years ago in the 2018 MW indoor meet? Both CSU teams finished second in the team standings.
MEN

Bynum (5^th in LJ & 4^th in TJ)

WOMEN

Ozoude (7^th, 60m; 6th in 200), Sieg (13^th SP & 14^th in WT)

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Rams Tuned Up for Mountain West Indoor Championships

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Players Mentioned

Germain Barnes

Ryan Birkmeier

Mason Brown

Jacob Brueckman

Claudia Burgess

Allam Bushara

Isa Bynum

Bailee Carr

Sarah Carter

Jack Cauble

Emily Chaston

Tameryn Coryell

Jahzara Davis

Adam Dawson

Andrew Doctor

John Fulton

Lauren Gale

Mauricio Galindo Vega

Kamal-Craig Golaube

Grace Goldsworthy

Ivy Gonzales

Eldridge Harris

Amelia Harvey

Michaela Hawkins

Ashlyn Hillyard

Janyah Jasper

Yolonda Johnson

Lexie Keller

Mariano Kis

Jordan Lanning

Dawson LaRance

Eric Lundgren

Liam Mather

Megan Mooney

Gabi Morris

Jackson Morris

Lauren Neugeboren

Tanner Norman

Tom Oates

Lauren Offerman

Jessica Ozoude

Anna Petr

Cameron Ross

Elijah Scott

Tarynn Sieg

Annabel Stafford

Adam Stark

Kelley Stephens

Celyn Stermer

Morgan Stewart

Cory Taylor

Drew Thompson

Lily Tomasula-Martin

DeVon Washington

Tom Willems

Makayla Williams

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