OCR Text |
Show A Year of Change Track Weber State College's men's track team members helped each other to strong performances in many events this past season. WSC has four exceptional steeplechasers and two all-star hurdlers on their team for the 1987 season. The athletes forced each other to compete well by continually pressuring each other. Weber State placed all four of its 3,000-meter steeplechasers in the top positions at the Big Sky Championships held in Boise, Idaho two weeks ago. Less than 16 seconds separated first place finisher Chris Cary and fourth place finisher Dave Andreason. This shows how competitive the team was. The steeplechase performers kept the pressure on and forced Cary to run a good time of 8:53.24. Just less than five seconds behind Cary was Kurt Black who completed the grueling event in 8:58.48. About nine seconds separated Darrin Williams from his two teammates. Williams finished in 9:08.04. Andreason completed the Wildcat sweep by finishing on Williams' heels with a time of 9:09.03 Kurt Black's time set a new standard for freshmen at Weber State. Black replaced former NCAA champion Farley Gerber in the college's record books. WSC coach Chic Hislop, who is nationally known for his steeplechasers, regarded the 1-4 finish as the highlight of the season. "It was the first time that a team has ever swept the first four places in any event," Hislop said. "The athletes really pushed each other." The hurdlers also did their share of spurring each other on. Kurt Trane and Dave Chowen each took turns besting the WSC record in the 400-intermediate hurdles. Chowen did his part first by running a 52.1, which beat his own record of 52.3 that he set as a freshman. Then Trane decided he wanted his name in WSC history and ran past Chowen's mark by posting a time of 51.65. Only one week after Trane set the new mark, both runners ran past it. Trane set a new mark of 51.34 while Chowen also ran past the old mark with a time of 51.51. Did the rivalry between these two athletes help spur each other on? You bet it did. Hislop said, "Chowen and Trane are very competitive with each other and that helps both of them improve." Perhaps the hurdlers and steeplechasers' competitive spirit rubbed off on the other Wildcats. Other records and personal bests were recorded by several other tracksters. The 1,600-meter relay team of Chowen, Trane, Scott Douglas and Gerald Bean posted a new WSC r 4 . H.'Jff'. V i WEBER 6, ATE 4 -" tf i v V WEBER STATE ' it I " - 7, Several Weber State College women tracksters dominated their events this season in Mountain West Athletic Conference competition. Terri Okelberry, Lucky Ikoh and Michelle Green had an easy time of winning their respective events all season long. They capped off their fine seasons by capturing first place finishes for the Lady Cats in the MWAC championship on May 22nd and 23rd in Boise, Idaho. The team managed a fourth place finish. It was no surprise to see Okelberry win the championship in her event. She claimed her first place finish by hurling the javelin a distance of 1 69 '10". The throw was not as good as Okelberry has been used to, but was still plenty good to claim first place. Ikoh also continued her dominance in the 400-meters by running a conference record time of 54.69. Her mark destroyed the old record of 55.62 which was set by Boise State's Sabrina John in 1985. Ikoh has been almost unbeatable in her event all season long. Green has also had an outstanding season for the Lady Cats. Green consistently broke her personal bests in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters all season long. Green capped off her successful year by taking first place in an unusually long 10,000-meter race. Her time of 39:33.55 was the winning time in an event that saw all the runners work extra hard. The record time of 3:11.95 at the conference championships. The record time gave them a first place finish. Rich Stuart and Tracy Fifield each achieved personal bests in the high jump and the 10,000-meter race respectively. Williams also achieved a personal best in the 1,500-meter race. Both Chowen and Trane raced past their previous personal bests in the 110-meter hurdles. They placed high in the event all season long. Dave Broderick, Aaron Victorian, James Hunter and Bean also helped Weber State's cause all season. They shared the intensity and competitiveness that surrounded the team. Most of Weber State's success this season came from home-grown talent. Almost all of their points at the BSC championship came from athletes that have come from Utah's high schools. "It is nice to see Utah kids doing well for us," said WSC coach Chic Hislop. Blaine Bringhurst , f : f V ' ' r j w v - . - mamf f " T5 . , -X ? ,-.. s s - - - - ' " J i. - tS , . r- r t- . . - - f v.-- - . C: - - A 1 . 1"" championship officials made a mistake and made the runners run one extra lap. The Lady Cats had many fine individual performances this past season. The best performance belonged to Okelberry. She became only the third Lady Cat to ever qualify for the NCAA Track and Field Championship which begins tomorrow in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She accomplished this feat by hurling the javelin a distance of 172MO", which is well over the qualifying mark of 1707". Okelberry's throw broke the WSC record which had been previously held by Nikki Nye. WSC coach Jim Blaisdell, who expected good things out of Okelberry, said, "Terri has really improved, has been throwing well, and has been consistent, 1 expected the record. We were very excited that she was able to qualify; they set those qualifying marks high." Okelberry was also able to set a school record in the heptathlon this season. She amassed a total of 4,971 points to set the record. 18D SignOff Tuesday, June 2, 1987 I 1 f 4 |