The Student News Site of Weber State University

The Signpost

The Signpost

The Signpost

The Signpost

Latest YouTube Video

Track and field excel at home

(Emily Crooks/ The Signpost)
Hailey Stevens competes in the long jump event at the Wildcat Indoor Open. Stevens finished in third place with a distance of 17 feet 4 inches.
(Emily Crooks/ The Signpost)

The Weber State University men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams posted personal records and qualifying marks at the Wildcat Indoor Open over the weekend.

“For many of the people, this was the last chance to get on the bus for the championship,” said head coach Dan Walker. “They really came out and impressed us and several more were able to book their trip to Flagstaff.  It was a good day for us overall.”

On Saturday three Wildcats automatically qualified for the championships, while eight Wildcats won their events.

Freshman sprinter Emily Morgan had a big day for Weber State, posting a time of 7.12 seconds on her first heat of the women’s 55 meter sprint — the 10th fastest time in school history. She was able to move on to the final heat, where she edged past fellow team mates Alex Van Halder and Chandler Weitzeil for the first place finish.

“I am just so happy to be here, it has been my dream to run for Weber State,” Morgan said. “Today was amazing for me and I credit that to being here at Weber. It has been little things like my form and endurance that I have been developing here that are giving me and edge, and I am thankful for it.”

Van Halder and Weitzeil both continued to place well for the rest of the meet, with other Wildcats taking the top four places in the women’s 200-meter and four of the top five finishes in the women’s 400-meter. Van Halder was able to take first in the 200 while Kiersten Watkins took second in the 400.

IMG_9205
Jazmin Porter participates in the shot put event at the Wildcat Indoor Open. Porter finished in second place in the event with a distance of 46 feet 6.75 inches.
(Jamii Freston/ The Signpost)

In field events, Jazmin Porter took second in the shot put with a throw of 46 feet 6.75 inches. Hailey Stevens was able to take the win in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet 5.75 inches, while Paige Cooper and Elisa Isakson set records in the triple jump and pole vault respectively.

On the men’s side, junior sprinter Tony Osheku Jr. continued his good performance as of late and picked up a pair of second place finishes in the 55 and 200 meter sprints. He was able to run a 21.88 in the 200-meter dash which became his new personal record on the year.

“Today I was able to work hard and get things done,” said Osheku. “The indoor season has been successful and aside from the championship next week, I am looking forward to moving on to the outdoor portion of our season. By then I hope to be doing much better than I am right now.”

Ryan Carlson was able to pick up the win, personal-best and auto qualifier in the 55-meter hurdles. He narrowly edged teammate Joey Czellecz to earn his first victory of the season with a time of 7.66. This time will secure him a spot in Flagstaff next weekend. Mitch Mourdant ran a new personal-best in the same event and took third respectively.

Issac Akers was able to win in the 400-meter race and narrowly missed setting a new personal best. Tip Worob was nearly able to send himself to the championship with a victory in the 3,000 meter race, while Anthony Gregory was able to secure the win in the high jump with a jump of 6-11.00.

Those on the team who have qualified will travel to Flagstaff this upcoming weekend to finish the indoor season at the Big Sky Championships. After that they will move into the bulk of their season as the outdoor portion will begin.

“I am excited for what will come from the outdoor part of our season,” Walker said. “We are a decent indoor team, but an amazing outdoor team. I have no doubt that we will excel this year and really put out one of our better seasons in a while.”

Charles can be found tweeting @cbowkstar_91 or hoping for a championship from the Wildcats

More to Discover