Ram Men Double Up as Mountain West Champs

CLOVIS, Calif. – In a season that was defined by the phrase "Compete with joy", Colorado State's men's track and field team saw the joy materialize by clinching the Mountain West Outdoor Track and Field title on Saturday night, completing a sweep of the conference indoor and outdoor titles.

The Ram men entered the day atop the standings, but were by no means comfortable as they knew they would have to fend off a late charge by runner up, New Mexico. CSU utilized its depth across multiple events to hold the Lobos at bay, and in the end won by a comfortable margin, 192.50-171.50.

"It's what we do," head coach Brian Bedard said as his team celebrated in the infield. "We've been preaching having joy when you compete, no doubts, compete with freedom, be aggressive, support your teammates. It's just fun to see it all come together…Because it doesn't always work that way. It's a fragile, fragile deal and the wheels can come off at any point over a three-day meet with so many events. But to have the team put together a body of work that you can be proud of, this is really what it's all about."

For his efforts, Bedard was once again named the MW Men's Coach of the Year, adding to his lengthy and legendary resume. However, Bedard will be the first to say the award has more to do with his student athletes than it does with himself.

"I mean we got some tough competitors, some tough-minded guys in here," Bedard said. "They're very determined. We put the challenge in front of them, they knew the task at hand and they were excited about it. There was no fear, they were going to go for it. You know, the championship mindset, championship mentality, and they went out and did it."

The Colorado State women put together valiant efforts across the three-day event, collecting a quartet of gold medals en route to a runner-up finish as a team. The women's squad totaled 112 points, finishing behind champion New Mexico.

Dembele Makes History
Despite winning the conference long jump title on Friday, Ismael Dembele was not satisfied as he entered the triple jump competition on the final day of the championships. It was obvious that it would not be an easy task, but what was less obvious is that he would have to fend off his own teammate, Jamison Taylor, to do so.

Dembele opened big, posting a mark of 15.45 meters/50-8.25 to set the tone and easily advance to the finals. Taylor also cruised his way to the finals, coming in right behind his fellow Ram after the first three attempts.

The fourth attempt is where the competition took a turn. Taylor stepped up and nailed a massive jump of 15.67/51-5, taking the lead right out from under Dembele. However, the reigning indoor conference triple jump champion refused to back down and countered with a program record 15.82/51-11 on the very next jump, making history while at the same time securing his second gold medal of the meet.

"Honestly, my coach [Maria Creech] just told me to go out and jump," Dembele said. "She said don't even think about the cueing, don't think about nothing. Just go out there and jump, use your talent to the best of your abilities, and that's what I did. I saw that when he [Taylor] jumped that mark, I knew I could jump further. We do that at practice every day, he pushes me and I push him."

Taylor finished with a more than respectable silver medal as his top mark was 4.5 inches further than the nearest competitor. As seen during Friday's high jump competition between Rhys Travis and Timothy Johnson, the men's jump crew is a perfect example of iron sharpening iron.

"It starts at practice," Dembele said. "We push it every day at practice. We have our dynamic and everybody wants to win, everybody wants to see each other win. If one person wins, everybody else wins."

Win they did as the Rams collected 25 points from the triple jump, rounded out by a fifth place finish by Ndayiragije Shukurani and a sixth place finish by Travis.

Kovatch Leads 1-2-3 Start
The day began with women's discus, an event that CSU knew it would need to collect big points in. That would be no easy task, however, as the field featured Fresno State's Cierra Jackson who owned the nation's third-longest throw in the event.

Klaire Kovatch was expected to be the Rams' strongest competitor, and she met expectations instantly by delivering a personal best 57.92/190-0 throw on her very first attempt, something she said was her gameplan from the start.

"I knew I wanted to hit it big right off to begin with," Kovatch said. "I wanted to set that bar high and see how she (Jackson) responded…Massive weight off the shoulders, knowing that the first one was a PR, really good throw technically as well. It just set me up to compete with freedom.

Kovatch was far from alone on the podium as Makayla Long (53.60/175-10) and Kajsa Borrman (53.46/175-4) each PR'd as well and made it a clean sweep of the discus medals. The other two Ram competitors, Erin Brown (49.82/163-5) and Mya Lesnar (49.37/161-11) also collected points, totaling to a massive 27 from the event overall.

"To start the day off like this is such a momentum boost," Kovatch said. "I mean, regardless of how today turns out we have inspired our teammates in my heart, I believe."

Men's Discus Steals Points
The men's discus crew put on a solid display as they out-performed their projections and came away with solid points. Adam Hellbom posted a massive PR of 55.05/180-7, a distance that saw him enter CSU's top 15 all time. He finished fourth and was followed by Leonardo Ramos – who had a big PR himself with a 54.50/178-9 – in fifth place while Kyle Bigley threw 52.54-172-4 to finish seventh.

The group of Rams were only expected to score six points based on season results entering the weekend, but walked away with 11 and provided an important boost to the overall total.

Huge Haul In Hurdles
Big points were expected from the 110 hurdles group as five Rams advanced to Saturday's nine-person even final. Cole Nordman – who led a 1-2-3 finish in the 60 hurdles at the indoor championships in March – once again led the pack, besting San Jose State's Otto Laing as he yelled triumphantly across the finish line.

Having started his career as a walk on to the program, Nordman himself finds it hard to believe he is now a two-time conference gold medalist.

"If I looked at myself freshman year, I would not see myself in this spot today," he said. "I mean I was a complete idiot freshman year. Like I just didn't take track seriously, I was just like 'Yeah let's do it for fun'. Then I took it seriously and I came to love it, love the sport and think now let's try to be the best at it. So now being a two-time gold medalist, I'm like wow, I've come a long way."

Dominic Gallelli joined Nordman on the podium, collecting a bronze medal for his time of 14.27. PJ Robinson finished just 0.01 seconds behind Gallelli in fourth, while Carsen Bruns (sixth) and Jack Wetterling (eighth) all produced points. 25 points in total came from the group, one which Nordman is proud to be a part of.

"It's a special group," he said. "I mean we were only expected to get three guys in the final, and we wanted to go 1-2-3 again. But with five guys? We really didn't care. As long as we were in the upper half, which we all were, it was a fantastic meet. We all performed great, everyone ran unafraid, no one was afraid of failure. Everyone was just out there to gun it or fall, no in between."

Turner, Carpenter and Jamison Medal
The men's 400 saw inspiring performances from Travis Turner and Kenny Carpenter as the duo earned silver and bronze, respectively. Carpenter entered the race fifth on the performance list but ran a blazing 47.89 to finish just behind Turner and steal valuable points as the meet entered the latter stages.

In the women's 400 hurdles, Neya Jamison was the star for Colorado State as she collected a bronze medal and six points towards her team's total.

Looking Ahead
The track and field season is far from over as the Rams will look to next week's announcement of the qualifiers for the NCAA Regionals. CSU entered the weekend with 14 athletes inside the qualifying threshold and will look to be well represented in College Station, Texas, come the end of the month.

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Ram Men Double Up as Mountain West Champs

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Players Mentioned

Kyle Bigley

Kajsa Borrman

Erin Brown

Carsen Bruns

Kenny Carpenter

Ismael Dembele

Dominic Gallelli

Adam Hellbom

Neya Jamison

Timothy Johnson

Klaire Kovatch

Mya Lesnar

Makayla Long

Cole Nordman

PJ Robinson

Ndayiragije Shukurani

Jamison Taylor

Rhys Travis

Travis Turner Jr.

Jack Wetterling