The fourth-ranked Boise State track team continues to
shine. Three Broncos set school records
yesterday at the United Heritage Invitational in Nampa while two others joined the
growing list of NCAA provisional qualifiers.
Simon Wardhaugh and Jarrod Stevens both set personal bests
in achieving NCAA provisional status in the 35-pound weight throw
yesterday. Wardhaugh heaved the weight
69-feet, seven-inches, topping his mark of 69-5.5 set at the Jackson’s Open in December. That is good for second in the nation this
season and just 11 ½ inches shy of an automatic mark. Stevens finished third in the event with a
mark of 66-8.75, which ranks seventh in the country. Libor Carfrietag of the Slovak Republic won the event with an
incredible throw of 82-10, just two feet short of the world record.
Super transfer Ryan Grinnell blew away his own nation’s best
mark in the triple jump by soaring 53-9.75.
The feat was more than five inches better than his jump last week at the
Blue and Orange Classic that earned him national attention.
Savvas Diakonikolas won the long jump with a mark of 25.748,
beating Anthony Flemons and Lyle Leong of Texas Tech. Diakonikolas, who set a provisional mark last
week, is now just two inches short of an automatic invitation. Teammate Zacharias Arnos was fourth in the
event with a mark of 24-0.25 and finished second in the triple jump by clearing
49-9.75.
Eleni Kafourou also set a provisional mark in winning the
long jump yesterday with a mark of 20-feet, 3.75 inches, outdistancing the
second-place finisher by nearly two feet.
Eleni is 6.25 inches away from an automatic berth in the NCAA’s. Kafourou continues to rewrite the record book
herself. She shattered her own school
record of 42-8.75 in the triple jump with a sensational leap of 43-0.25 to win
the event by nearly four feet. Kafourou
had already set a provisional mark in her first meet and is now just 6.05
inches away from an automatic invitation to the NCAA’s.
Heigo Nurmsalu is the new #1 in the school record book for
the heptathlon, as the sophomore accumulated 5,332 points to place fifth. Nurmsalu improved upon his Western Athletic
Conference-best total of 5,032.
Junior Annelise Bertleson eclipsed the school mark in the
pole vault by clearing 12-feet, seven inches yesterday, breaking Alina
Schimpf’s record of 12-6 set two years ago.
Bertleson was just four inches short of a provisional qualifying mark
and moved her into second place in the WAC this season.
“I was really
impressed with our team,” said head coach Mike Maynard.
“The entire team from the bottom to the top continued to improve.”
As further evidence, five other Broncos set personal bests
yesterday. Nick Cunningham ran 21.71 in
the 200, tops in the WAC this season.
Karleigh Gempler cut four seconds from her mile time by finishing in
5:21.4, Paige Olivetti ran 24.97 in the 200, 17/100th’s of a second
behind California’s Kandi Bonty and Nataucha Lowry set personal bests in the 60 (7.73) and the 200
(24.98). Lowry is three-tenths of a
second off the provisional standard in the 60.
Megan Olivetti finished second in th3 60-meter hurdles with
a time of 8.88 while Cody Eaton was third in the 800 (1:54.33) to California’s Mark Matusak and Eric Lee.
“I feel our women’s
team is continuing to improve with each meet and each day of practice,” said
Maynard. “We continue to improve our times and marks and I really like our
chances as we head into the WAC Championships in less than a month (Feb. 28).” “I think our men’s team has a really good
shot at the WAC Indoor Championship,” Maynard added. “We just need people to
step up and fill in our depth to give this team a really chance at the team
title.
The Boise State team has set a goal of breaking
the school record for the highest finish at the NCAA National
Championships. That mark is held by the
1988 team that tied for seventh place.
The Boise State University track and field teams will
continue their season next Friday and
Saturday with the Bronco Invitational in Nampa, Idaho.