By Jay Dresser
The men”s track and field team took another step forward in preparation for the conference championships over the weekend, Feb. 1 and 2, in the Mountain States Games in Pocatello, Idaho.
“We did some very good things,” head coach Mark Robison said. “We are improving and we are staying healthy. Those are the two things we were trying to do.”
With the conference championship less than three weeks away, the Cougars are showing signs of steady progress.
Assistant coach Ed Eyestone said he was very pleased with the distance crew.
“All of the distance runners improved their times,” he said. “That is what we wanted to see.”
Continuing in his winning ways, Mao Tjiroze ran away with first place in the 800-meters for the second straight week.
Tjiroze”s time of 1:51.27 was one second faster than teammate Jeff Hopkinson who finished third. Drew Ostler placed fourth in the event.
Lewis Jones and Andy Carman finished neck and neck in the mile run. Jones recorded a personal best and finished in fourth place. His time of 4:15.45 was three-hundredths of a second faster than Carman who placed fifth.
In the 3,000-meter run, John Hedengren shaved five seconds off his pace from last week and finished in second place. His time of 8:34.33 was also a personal best. Freshman Mark Nevers came in sixth place.
Matt Nielsen recorded the fastest speed in the 200-meter dash. His first place time of 21.85 seconds was just shy of a personal best.
For the third time this season, Kish Beverley ran away from the field to win the 400-meter dash. Beverley took first place with a time of 48.12 seconds. Matt Rowe placed fourth in the 200-meter dash and took home fourth place in the 400 as well.
Daymon Visser finished second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.74 seconds and Robert Mugagga ran 6.52 seconds to place fourth in the 55-meter dash.
Jeremy Kemp finished second place in the pole vault competition. Kemp, who said he hopes to qualify for nationals, vaulted 16-feet, 5-inches. Teammate Erik Rasmussen vaulted 16-feet on his way to a fifth place finish.
Matt Holcomb hurled a 35-pound weight 57-feet, 10 inches for second place in the weight throw and Ammon Dahl leaped 6-feet, 7-inches to a fourth place finish in the high jump.
David Pendergrass was one of four Cougar athletes to claim first place in their respective events. Pendergrass went 46-feet, 5-inches on his way to victory in the triple jump.
The Cougars will travel to The University of Nebraska this weekend, Feb. 8 and 9, for their last competition before the conference championships.
