Cowboys fifth, Cowgirls seventh in MWC

UW photo service

Wyoming freshman Jeremiah James won the long jump Friday at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.

James, Burton come away with titles

By Wyoming Sports.org

FORTH WORTH, Texas -- Wyoming freshman Jeremiah James and senior Kate Burton came away with titles Friday at the Mountain West Conference Track and Field Championships.

James had the fourth best long jump all-time in Wyoming history with his leap of 24-9¼. He was pushed by last year’s champion, senior Jonathan Jackson of TCU, who out-jumped James with two jumps left. James then set his personal best and took the title away from Jackson. UW sophomore John Alderson placed third for the second straight outdoor championships, with a flight of 22-10½.

Burton, who was the champion in the indoor MWC Championships in the weight throw, now adds the outdoor championships to her resume with a winning toss of 192-9. She also still owns the eighth best hammer throw in the nation.

Qualifying for the Cowgirls today was junior Shaylee Babbitt in the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Erica Anderson in the 400-meter dash with her personal best of 57.26 seconds and junior Nikki Peterson in the 800-meter run with her season best time of 2:17.45.

Also for the Cowgirls, freshman Alysha Davis started off the day with an 11th-place finish in the 10,000-meter run and a time of 37:29.17, good for seventh best in UW history. Along with junior Courtney Gougler, who placed 11th in the shot put. The long jump was led by senior Jennifer Collen in 15th with a leap of 18-5 and junior Lindsey Fuller in 17th with a jump of 17-11½.

Qualifying for the finals Saturday for the Cowboys was senior Vashone West in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, along with junior Kekoa Chavez qualified in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.51. Sophomore Jay Petsch, coming off his seventh place finish in the decathlon, failed to qualify for the finals in the 110-meter hurdles although he ran a season best time of 15.40.

Junior Geoffrey Standen ran his personal best time of 1:54.17 in the 800-meter run, crossing the tape in 12th place. Also, freshman Seth Grossman scored for the men in the 10,000-meter run, placing seventh with a time of 31:50.09. Also for the Cowboys, junior Brett Schuler ran a solid race in the 3,000-meter steeple chase where he placed eighth in a time of 9:28.54.

"Our young kids performed very well today, setting quite a few season bests and giving them something to build on for next year," UW head coach Don Yentes said.

After day three of the MWC Championships the Cowboys sit in fifth place while the Cowgirls are in seventh place. Saturday’s action will bring finals in the rest of the track events beginning at noon, with the field events starting at 10 a.m.