Women Dominate 5,000m at MWC Championships

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COLORADO SPRINGS -- After two days of competition at the Mountain West Indoor Track and Field Championships, the BYU women's team is in first and the men are in second.

The women's team scored 61.50 points through Friday and qualified nine athletes for events Saturday. For the second year in a row, the women dominated the 5,000-meter run, finishing first through fifth. Lindsey Thomsen won the event in 17:56.24, and she was followed by Katie Martin (17:58.66), Breanne Sandberg (18:03.86), Lisa Antonelli (18:08.96) and Kristen Ogden (18:12.76). BYU took home a victory in the distance medley relay, with a time of 12:27.63, and Lindsey Sommer jumped a personal best of 18-08 to place second in the long jump

Also scoring for the BYU women were Kristen McGregor and Alicia Thompson in the pole vault, Malita Bingham in the weight throw and Liis Berendsen in the pentathlon.

In the preliminary races, Michaela Mannova led all times in the mile preliminary, and Jennifer Rockwell qualified in both the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter run.

Head coach Craig Poole said, "We qualified everybody we thought we should. We're pleased with what the kids have done. They are rising to the occasion, and they are competitive."

The men's team qualified 15 athletes for final events Saturday and has scored 45 points, with Colorado and Air Force in first and second. Senior Aron Szmuda won the long jump with a leap of 24-05.75, and the men won the distance medley relay in a time of 10:17.86. Four athletes qualified for the finals in the 800-meter run and the mile run. Kip Kangogo led the milers with a time of 4:09.45.

Devin Scoresby scored in the high jump, and Matt Holcomb scored in the weight throw. In Friday's competition, Devin Scoresby placed second in the pentathlon and Justin Palmer placed fourth.

Despite the positive aspects of the meet, men's head coach Mark Robison said he felt his team was flat and did not perform like he knows they can.

"The key to the whole meet will by the 800m, the mile and the pole vault," he said. "It's going to be close. It's going to be a battle."

The conference championships continue Saturday morning, with the last event at 3:30 p.m. and the awards ceremony at 4 p.m.