BYU Looks To Defend Conference Crowns

PROVO -- The BYU men's and women's track teams will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo. to defend their conference titles at the 2002 McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The Cougars will be lookingto claim their third straight men's and women's titles after winning back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001. BYU has won every Mountain West Conference title in outdoor track since the conference was formed.

The team returns three athletes who won event titles at the 2001 Mountain West Conference Championships in San Diego, Calif. Matt Nielsen clocked a time of 47.15 seconds to win the men's 400-meter crown, Jeff Hansen won the men's pole vault with a mark of 18-0 1/2 and Holly Haguewood won the 800 in 2:08.49.

The championships, held at the Air Force Academy, will begin on Wed., May 15 with the first day of the heptathlon and decathlon. The heptathlon and decathlon will conclude on Thursday.

Friday's action kicks off at 10:30 a.m. with the men's hammer throw and track events beginning at 1 p.m. The final track event of the day, the men's 10,000-meter run, is scheduled to begin at 5:40 p.m. and should conclude at approximately 6:15 p.m. Friday's track events will mostly be qualifying rounds for Saturday's finals.

The championships will conclude on Saturday with field events beginning at 10:30 a.m. and running events beginning at 1 p.m. The men's 4x400 relay is scheduled to begin at approximately 4:30 p.m. and will be the final event of the meet. An awards ceremony will follow the conclusion of the race at 5 p.m.

For more information about the 2002 McLeodUSA Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, go to http://themwc.fansonly.com/sports/c-track/mwc-c-track-body.html.