2007 Meet Recaps

Women Come from Fourth to Finish Second at T&F Championships

Complete Results

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Feb. 26 – Southern Utah University’s men would hold onto their lead and capture the Mid-Con Indoor Track and Field Championship with a team score of 206 to Oral Roberts’ 188 on Monday.  The results would be flip-flopped on the women’s side with the Golden Eagles winning the team title with a score of 198.5 to Southern Utah’s 130.

The men would also sweep the conference awards as Dave Sheeran was named Athlete of the Year, Rex Shields garnered Newcomer of the Year and Southern Utah head coach Eric Houle was named Coach of the Year.

The men’s team title is the second for the squad during the season after capturing the Mid-Con cross-country title in the fall. Houle is optimistic in his team’s chance at sweeping all three titles with a run at the outdoor track and field championship in the coming months.

“As a coach you just hope you can have a healthy group of athletes coming into these championships,” Houle said after the team title.  “With health you have a fighting chance, but our group raised the bar and had phenomenal performances across the board.”

The Thunderbirds would collect three more individual titles on day two with DeWayne Lewis capturing the men’s 60-meter dash in an SUU record time of 6.88.  Not to be outdone, Sharae Hill would also finish first on the women’s side in the 60-meter dash with a school-record 7.77 finish.

Junior Mark Currell would be the final individual champion for SUU on the day with a first-place time of 14:58.87 in the men’s 5,000-meters.

Three other Thunderbirds would fill out the top four in the 5,000-meters as Shields (15:04.51, 2nd), Adam McDonald (15:25.72, 3rd) and Sheeran (15:26.01, 4th) crossed the line immediately behind their teammate.

The men would narrowly miss the top step of the podium in other events, including second-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles (Dontae Florial, 8.38), 4x400-meter relay (3:20.63), the mile (Dave Sheeran, 4:16.20) and the shot put (Nate Ott, 49 feet 11.75 inches).

The women also narrowly missed gold medal citations as Brittany Lee finished second in the 200-meters with a time of 25.65 and then again in the 400-meters with a time of 55.91.  In all, Lee would compete in the finals of the 60, 200 and 400-meter races, accumulating 18 points for the Thunderbirds.

Jackie Stoddard was another second-place finisher for the T-Birds, clearing a height of 5 feet 6 inches in the women’s high jump.

“Our women were projected third going into this competition and competed at a very high level,” Houle said of the women’s finish.  “I think this really bodes well for both teams as we begin the outdoor season.”

The outdoor season will begin on March 15 and 16 as the Thunderbirds travel to San Diego, Calif. and participate in the Aztec Invitational.

Men First, Women Fourth After Day One of Indoor Track and Field Championships

Day One Results

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Southern Utah University Track and Field is ahead of where head coach Eric Houle projected they would be after day one of the Mid-Con Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.  The men are currently in first place with 75 points, followed by Western Illinois (42), Oral Roberts (33), Valparaiso (20) and UMKC (13).

The women are in fourth with 24 points and making a win a little more difficult for heavily favored Oral Roberts in first with 51 points.  Western Illinois stands in second (39) with Valparaiso (25) and UMKC (11) in third and fifth, respectively.

“We really stepped up and competed today,” Houle said of the first day.  “We are ahead of where we were projected we would be and we are giving the leaders a race.”

The men will have a target on their back entering the final day of competition after a strong first day that included three individual conference titles.

SUU sophomore Dave Sheeran lead a host of Thunderbirds in the 3,000-meters as Southern Utah scored five runners in the race, finishing one through four and another sixth-place finish.

Sheeran would finish the race with a time of 8:25.40 for the win, followed by teammates Rex Shields (2nd, 8:35.49), Mark Currell (3rd, 8:36.59), Adam McDonald (4th, 8:37.46) and Devan Antczak in sixth with a time of 8:44.63.

Other individual titles for the men would come in the pole vault as Brian Taylor cleared a school-record 16 feet 6.75 inches for the title.  Taylor would later come back and finish second in the long jump with a personal-best distance of 21 feet 10 inches.

Greg Watson’s heave of 61 feet 11.75 inches in the men’s weight throw would set a new personal-best for the senior and be the final individual title for the men during the day.  Teammate Nate Ott would also secure points for the ‘Birds in the weight throw, tossing a personal-best mark of 58 feet 3 inches.

Southern Utah also qualified more sprinters for tomorrow’s finals than they have in years past on the men’s side with four that will appear in the 60-meter hurdles, three in the 400-meters, two in the 200-meters and three more in the 60-meter dash.

On the women’s side, Sharla Platt would race to a third-place finish in the 3,000-meters, setting a new school record in the process with a time of 9:56.73.  Southern Utah would also record eight points with a second-place finish in the distance medley relay, finishing in 12:36.56.

Three Thunderbirds would score in the women’s weight throw as Kristi Koplin finished fourth (51 feet 6.5 inches), Holly Travous finished sixth (46 feet 8 inches) and Alayna Ferrin finished seventh with a mark of 45 feet 1 inch.

The women will look to make a title for Oral Roberts a little more difficult tomorrow with three Thunderbirds in the 60-meter hurdle final, two in the 400-meter final, one in the 200-meter final and another two in the 60-meter dash final.

SUU’s Brittany Lee was a double qualifier today and will be one of the T-Birds racing in the 60- and 200-meter dashes.

The Mid-Con Indoor Track and Field Championships will conclude Monday as competition continues with the sprint finals and other field event action.

One School Record, 15 Top-Ten Marks and 32 PR's Equal Successful Meet for T&F

Complete Results

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Feb. 10 – Southern Utah Track and Field posted wins over Northern Arizona, Fresno State, Long Beach State and UC Irvine in a five-team meet with a dual meet scoring system on Saturday afternoon. In the process, SUU junior Sharae Hill set a new school record with a time of 7.74 (7.78 adjusted) in the 60-meters.

Hill’s time would narrowly miss a first-place finish by two one-hundredths of a second, however the Thunderbirds would have their share of individual victories in the meet.

Included in the individual winners were Dave Sheeran (mile, 4:10.10 and 800m, 2:00.40), Dontae Florial (60m hurdles, 8.47), Austin Hill (400m, 47.71), Kai’he Akina (60m 6.98), Jeff Alley (200m, 21.92), Brian Taylor (pole vault, 4.81m) for the men and Brittany Lee (400m, 56.25) for the women.

The men would also record a first-place finish with a 3:18.83 time in the 4x400-meter relay.

The Thunderbirds would place multiple finishers with SUU finishing one through five in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, one-two in the men’s 60-meter and 800-meter events and one through three in the men’s 200-meters.

The meet was the final warm-up for the T-Birds before the Mid-Con Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 25-26 in Bloomington, Ill.

Team Scores

SUU W 258.00 – Fresno W 235.00
SUU W 231.00 – Long Beach W 234.00
SUU W 240.00 – N. Arizona W 214.00
SUU W 285.00 – UC Irvine W 142.00

SUU M 265.00 – Long Beach M 117.00
SUU M 231.00 – N. Arizona M 170.00

Top-Five Finishes Aplenty for Indoor Track and Field at NAU

Complete Results

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Feb. 3 – Southern Utah’s second trip to Flagstaff, Ariz. during the indoor season would produce 26 top-five finishes, in what Head coach Eric Houle called a really, really good performance.

The Thunderbirds would sweep first-place finishes in the men’s and women’s open mile and open 800-meter races to headline the day.  Shay Asay and Damien Mora finished one-two in the men’s mile with times of 4:50.15 and 4:50.53, respectively for the wins.  On the women’s side, Meghan Reilly crossed the line at 5:45.21 for her first-place finish in the women’s open mile.

The men would also capture the first two spots in the 800-meter open race as Dave Sheeran and Adam McDonald finished with times of 1:55.32 and 2:01.15.  Kate Eborn’s time of 2:23.34 would put her first in the women’s 800-meter race to complete the sweep.

Mark Currell and Rex Shields would prove to be the next dynamic duo, finishing first and second in the invitational mile race with times of 4:22.74 and 4:24.85, respectively.

Sheeran would return later in the day and take his second individual victory, running an 8:37.31 in the men’s invitational 3,000-meters for the first-place finish.  The time was only three seconds off the SUU record and only 12 seconds off a nationally qualifying time.

Sharla Platt would also turn in a solid performance for the women in the 3,000-meters with a third-place time of 10:31.99.

Good things would continue to come in pairs on the men’s side as Steve Hart and Brad Jeppsen finished second and third in the men’s 400-meter open race with times of 50.41 and 50.50.  Austin Hill would also turn in a top finish for the men’s sprinters with a second-place finish in the men’s 200-meter open race, finishing in 22.54.

Hill would also turn in a fifth-place performance in the 400-meter invitational race with a time of 48.39.  Jeff Alley would continue his strong freshman campaign with a 7.02 time in the 60-meters, missing a finals qualifying time by .01 seconds.  However, his time of 21.78 in the men’s 200-meter invitational race would be good enough for a third-place finish.

Times will only become faster after track and altitude adjustments are reported to the Mid-Con Conference offices on Monday.  SUU’s times will likely finish in the top-five in many events.

Quality results would continue to roll in for the Thunderbirds off the track as Jackie Stoddard sailed 15 feet 11.5 inches for a third-place finish in the women’s long jump.  Stoddard would go on and clear 5 feet 3.75 inches for a third-place finish in the women’s high jump.

Alayna Ferrin and Kristi Koplin would turn in the top performances for the throwers on the women’s side with a third- and fourth-place finish in the women’s shot put with marks of 37 feet 7.25 inches and 37 feet 5.75 inches, respectively.

Senior Greg Watson’s marks of 41 feet 9.25 inches in the men’s shot put and 59 feet 7 inches in the men’s weight throw would be good enough for a fourth- and fifth-place finish in each event to end the day for the Thunderbirds.

Southern Utah will makes its third trip to Flagstaff, while another contingency will compete at the Mountain State Games in Pocatello, Idaho next weekend as the indoor track and field season rolls on.

Thunderbirds Stack up Well Against PAC-10 Challengers at UW Invitational

Complete Results

SEATTLE, Wash. – Jan. 27 – Southern Utah Track and Field changed venues for the weekend and landed in Seattle, Wash. for the UW Indoor Invitational.  The Thunderbirds were originally slated to take part in the Reno Invitational, but Nevada-Reno is currently renovating its indoor facility.

On Friday, most of the day was filled with the men’s heptathlon and women’s pentathlon in which the Thunderbirds did not have an athlete entered.  However, the T-Birds did break through in the men’s 5,000-meter run with Mark Currell racing to a fourth-place finish with a time of 14:31.44.  The time was the fastest for a collegiate at the meet and ranks third all-time at Southern Utah in the event.

Teammate Rex Shields also finished in the top-ten of the event with a time of 14:46.76, ranking sixth all-time at SUU.

On Saturday, the Thunderbirds looked strong in the mile as three athletes placed in the top five of their sections.  Sharla Platt headlined the women’s finishes with her 5:04.74 third-place finish as Dave Sheeran finished with a personal-best and a No. 4 all-time mark at SUU with a time of 4:09.71 to finish first in his section.  Adam McDonald would be the final finisher in the mile for SUU with a 4:17.34 second-place finish in his respective section.

Jeff Alley continued his phenomenal freshman campaign by qualifying for the 60-meter dash final, finishing fourth in his section with a time of 6.98.  The time is the third fastest at Southern Utah will likely be in the top three of the Mid-Con as other times are reported after the weekend.

Austin Hill and Chris Bringhurst would each finish first in their section of their respective event.  Hill posted a time of 49.07 in the 400-meter dash, while Bringhurst crossed the line in the 800-meters with a time of 1:58.61.

In the field events, throwers Greg Watson and Nate Ott measured strong distances in the weight throw as Watson finished first in the section with a mark of 57 feet 2 inches with Ott close behind in third, tallying a distance of 52 feet 8.75 inches.

Brian Taylor would be the final headliner at the meet as his clearance of the 15 feet 7.25 inch plateau meant a tie for second place in the pole vault.

“This was a fabulous meet for us,” head coach Eric Houle said after the meet.  “It is always good to run with PAC-10 schools.  It gives our athletes more confidence as they see they can compete against anyone in the nation.”

The Thunderbirds will continue the indoor track season as the team divides for meets in Pocatello, Idaho and Flagstaff, Ariz. next weekend.

Southern Utah Shows Depth in Latest Indoor Results

Complete Results - USU
Complete Results - NAU

LOGAN, Utah/FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Jan. 20 – Southern Utah University’s indoor track and field team split for meets at Utah State and Northern Arizona, but each enjoyed success as the indoor season continued over the weekend.

Headlining the Thunderbird success was freshman Jeff Alley who took home his second individual title in as many weeks.  Alley would race to a 6.93 finish in the men’s 60-meter dash for the victory.  Teammate Ka’ihe Akina was close behind in third-place with a time of 7.06.

Individual victories would continue to roll in for the Thunderbirds in the sprints as Austin Hill and Steve Hart finished one-two in the men’s 400-meter dash.  Hill and Hart crossed the line with times of 49.88 and 51.88, respectively.

Sophomore Eric Hendricks’ time of 2:08.60 was good for a second-place spot along with the 4 x 400-meter relay team who also finished second, finishing in 3:23.76.

In Flagstaff, the distance contingency of the team dominated in the mile, placing first through fifth in a strong outing.  Dave Sheeran (4:20.49) would lead the charge followed by Mark Currell (4:26.95), Rex Shields (4:28.48), Devan Antczak (4:31.90) and Adam McDonald (4:34.51).

Senior Nate Ott would glean the highest place for the men in the field events with a heave of 58 feet 1 inch in the men’s weight throw for a fourth-place finish.

Brittany Lee would lead the women in Logan with a qualifying time of 7.85 in the women’s 60-meter dash and a second-place finish in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 56.93.  Although Lee would not take part in the 60-meter final, teammate Sharae Hill represented the ‘Birds with a third-place 7.93 finish.

At the Lumberjack Invitational, Kate Eborn would record a top-five finish in three events, including the mile (5:36.05, 5th), 800-meters (2:25.37, 5th) and a first-place finish in the 3,000-meters with a time of 12:26.32.

Holly Travous’ marks of 39 feet 9.25 inches in the shot put and 45 feet 7 inches in the weight throw would be good enough for a fourth and third-place finish, respectively in each event.  Teammate Kristi Koplin was right behind in the weight throw with a fourth-place mark of 44 feet 8.75 inches.

“We are way ahead of where we were last year at this point in the season,” Head coach Eric Houle said of his teams’ success.  “Many of our marks will be strong times in the conference.”

The indoor season will continue next weekend when the T-Birds travel to Reno, Nevada for the Reno Invitational and Pole Vault Summit.

Muscato Finishes Second at Idaho State Invitational

Complete Results

POCATELLO, Idaho – Jan. 13 – Freshman Jeff Alley crossed the line first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.11 to secure Southern Utah’s top finish at the Idaho State Invitational on Friday night.  It was the lone first-place finish for the T-Birds as head coach Eric Houle evaluates where his team stands going into the indoor season.

“This meet really is an icebreaker for us,” Houle said before the competition.  “We don’t expect to go all out, but it is nice to go out and compete and see where we are at this point of the season.”

Alley would also go on to finish second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.98.  Other top-five finishes on the track for the men included freshman Austin Hill in the 400-meters (49.65, 5th) and sophomore David Sheeran in the mile (4:20.14, 4th).  The T-Birds would place two in the top five in the 3,000-meters and 60-meter hurdles with junior Mark Currell and freshman Rex Shields finishing third and fifth in the 3,000 with times of 8:56.90 and 9:02.76, respectively.  Freshmen Dontae Florial and Tim Dalene would finish third and fifth in the hurdles with times of 8.55 and 8.84, respectively.

The men’s 4 x 400-meter relay team would conclude the meet with a second-place finish with a time of 3:27.89.

In the field events, SUU senior Brian Taylor cleared a mark of 15 feet 6.75 inches for a third-place finish in the pole vault.

On the women’s side, Southern Utah had four top-five finishers in junior Sharae Hill (8.08, t-3rd) and senior Jennifer Sparks (8.18, 5th) in the 60-meter dash, Sparks in the 200-meter dash (26.95, 3rd) and sophomore Sharla Platt in the mile (5:17.66, 3rd).

Senior Marie Muscato turned in the best performance for the women on the day, clearing a mark of 10 feet 11.25 inches for a second place finish in the pole vault.

Indoor track and field action will continue today when the Thunderbirds take part in the weight pentathlon meet at Citrus College.