Men and Women Seek Another Championship

PROVO -- Men’s and women’s head track coaches Mark Robison and Craig Poole will lead their teams to Albuquerque, N.M. for the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which begin on Wednesday May 12 and conclude Saturday May 15.

Both teams are coming off MWC indoor championships and look to defend their 2009 outdoor MWC titles. The men have won 10 consecutive outdoor championships and the women have won eight of the last 10.

“We are ready to compete,” Poole said. “Everyone we are taking is ready and sharp. I think we will do very well.”

On the women’s side, senior Mindy McClurkin leads with way with three top-MWC marks. She leads the conference in the 100m (11.60), 200m (23.37) and long jump (6.61m).

All-American Lacey Cramer looks to continue her reign as the 800m champion, and she currently ranks first in the event with a time of 2:03.91. Nachelle Stewart ranks second in the event at 2:05.98.

Ashley Dziendziel and her career-best high jump of 1.78m (5-10) leads the conference in that event, with teammate Ada Robinson sitting close behind in second.

The women’s team also has a few injury problems that will affect several athletes that would have likely scored at conference.

“We are down a couple of people,” Poole said. “Rachel Fisher (pole vault) and Natalie Stewart (400m) will not be attending due to injury, so that will hurt us in those events.”

Leif Arrhenius will lead the men’s team with his MWC-best marks in the discus (59.68m) and shot put (18.42m). Arrhenius is also ranked second in the MWC in the hammer throw at 59.80m (196’2’’).

Also ranking at the top for the men is sophomore Ryan Waite, who owns the top 800-meter mark. Waite’s 1:47.54 time at the Stanford Invitational is more than two seconds faster than the second-ranked MWC mark.

High jumper Trevor Heiner holds the top spot in his event with a mark of 2.10m (6-10.75). Chris Little also sits atop his event, the pole vault, with a top height of 5.41m (17’9’’).

The men also hold the top three marks in the javelin with Sean Richardson, Blaine Baker and Chris Reno ranking first, second and third, respectively.

Live stats for the MWC Championships can be found online by visiting TheMWC.com and GoLobos.com.