OGDEN — History was made Saturday as the Weber State track and field teams hosted the Wildcat Indoor Invitational. Long jumper Cylor Morgan set the Stromberg Gym record with a jump of 24-8.25 to highlight the action.
The nearly 25-foot leap was also the third-best jump in WSU and is the 17th-longest jump in the nation.
In addition to Morgan’s first-place finish, WSU’s Logan Leavitt made it a one-two finish with a 22-10.50 jump.
In total, the men’s team had four new qualifiers for the conference championships, Feb. 22-23 at Bozeman, Mont.
Two came in the 200 meters as Synjohn Lilly and Tony Osheku Jr. both qualified. Lilly ran in 22.27 seconds and Osheku ran in 22.31 for a the one-two finish.
Jonathan McUne was another new qualifier. He will race in the 55-meter hurdles event in Big Sky Conference championships after recording a 7.80 seconds time Saturday.
Tyler Robinson did not meet the qualifying standard in the 5,000 meters, but he will qualify for the meet because he will be in the top 16 in the conference. Robinson ran the 5,000 meter in 15:36.0.
“I was really pleased with the way we competed,” said men’s coach Dan Walker. “In these meets right before conference, it can be really easy to not do as well as you could, but our guys competed today. I was really proud of them.”
Meanwhile, the women had three new qualifiers. Lauren Navidomskis qualified and finished second in the high jump at 5-5.25.
Natasha Powell also qualified for the Big Sky meet, setting a mark of 53-4.50 in the weight throw. She placed fourth in the event while Anneli Stahl of Utah won the event.
The women’s were led by Alex Van Halder who qualified in the 200 meters with a time of 25.71. That time made her the top collegiate performer on Saturday.
Van Halder also won the 55 meters with a time of 7.24. That time was her career-best, although she had already qualified earlier in the season. Van Halder is one of eight Wildcat freshmen headed to next week’s Big Sky Conference meet.
Van Halder’s two wins were one of five event wins that the women accumulated during the meet. The men also had great success on Saturday, recording seven total wins in the meet.
“Just like everyone else, we use this meet as a tune up for the conference meet next week,” women’s coach Jim Blaisdell said. “We have eight freshman going up to Bozeman to compete (in the conference meet), so it will be a really good experience for them and we’re excited to get up there.”
Comments