May 6, 2008

Complete Meet Schedule in PDF Format

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State's track and field teams will have their final tune-up for next week's conference championships by competing in the Utah Collegiate Challenge Twilight meet on Wednesday, May 7 at Salt Lake City, Utah. The meet will be hosted by the University of Utah at East High School's Talley Stevens Outdoor Track Complex.

The meet starts at 1 p.m. with the field events, while the running events begin at 4:30 p.m.

The Aggies will be joined in the competition field by Brigham Young, Southern Utah, Utah Valley, Weber State and host Utah's women's team, as well as a few Idaho State athletes.

Spectators going to the meet should be aware that due to a movie currently filming at East High School, the stadium lot will not be available for parking. Also, spectators should park at the baseball stadium across the street. Parking is limited and carpooling is highly recommended.

Wednesday is USU's final regular-season meet before the Western Athletic Conference Championships which run Wednesday-Saturday, May 14-17 at Boise, Idaho and hosted by Boise State.

"This meet is the final opportunity for athletes to make the travel squad for next week's conference meet," USU head coach Gregg Gensel said. "This is our final preparation so we're also fine tuning things for next week."

Headlining Wednesday's Aggie competitors will be junior Katie Thatcher, this week's WAC Women's Track Athlete of the Week, after she won the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.23, Friday at the Boise State Bronco Twilight meet. She notched her second NCAA regional qualifying mark this season. The 1:00.23 is the ninth-fastest in USU history, as she now holds the No.'s 7-8-9 spots on the Aggies' top 10 list, with the No. 8 spot her 1:00.11 run earlier this season.

Junior John Strang leads the USU men into Wednesday's action. Strang was named the USU Athlete of the Week on Monday after he competed in three events Friday at the Boise State Bronco Twilight meet, nabbing two second-place finishes and a sixth-place finish. He had a high jump clearance of 6-10.75, an NCAA regional qualifying mark and clearing the same height as the winner, but got second on earlier misses. The 6-10.75 is not only a personal-best but ties the ninth-best mark in school history. It matches the best mark in the Western Athletic Conference as Friday's winner was from Boise State.

Strang also got second in the 110 meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 14.67. He was also sixth in the long jump with a personal-best distance of 23-7.50.

The Aggies are coming off a solid performance at the Boise State Bronco Twilight Meet last Friday as five athletes won their events and 14 athletes recorded top three finishes. Both the men and women swept the 400 meter runs and 400 meter hurdles. Thatcher won the 400m hurdles with an NCAA regional qualifying time of 1:00.23 and freshman Katelyn Jensen won the 400m race with a time of 56.70. For the men, senior Dasheek Akwenye won the 400m with a time of 47.68, junior Keith Williams won the 400m hurdles in 53.35, and sophomore Jason Holt took first-place in the 800m with a time of 1:54.41.

Currently, five Aggies are leading the WAC in their respective events. They Aggies also have 11 athletes who have NCAA regional qualifying marks. Senior Stacie Lifferth-Dorius leads the WAC in the women's 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 10:24.56, while sophomore Erin Stratton leads the women in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.79. Junior Seth Wold is leading the WAC men in the 5,000m and 10,000m with times of 14:31.55 and 30:20.65, respectively. Akwenye leads in the 400m with his time of 46.83 and sophomore Steve Strickland is leading in the men's 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:57.03.

The Aggie men have eight NCAA regional qualifying marks while the USU women have six NCAA regional qualifying performances.