The SHSU track team returned from the SLC Indoor Championship meet this weekend with a third place finish for the men’s team and a sixth place for the women overall.
The men’s team set a new school record with the highest team finish at the indoor championship, and the men, along with the women, set a new record for most points scored at the indoor championships.
Head track coach Greg Hinze said overall, the men had a good meet.
“Friday we were in great position to score well over 100 points and I thought we could be a close second,” Hinze said. “We kind of fell apart a little bit on Saturday, but I guess it’s a good sign when you can fall apart and still be a solid third.”
Courtney Boston walked away with two second place finishes: one in the 60-meter dash and one in the 200-meter dash. Adrian Ray set a new school record and qualified for the NCAA meet in the 60-meter hurdles. Also, the men’s distance medley relay, composed of Vance Bridges, Aaron Russell, Keith Jensen and Joe Amburn, won first place with a time of 10 minutes,12.13 seconds. Amburn also finished first in the mile.
Villarreal finished fourth in both the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races.
“Our goal coming in was to finish in the top three and score more points than we ever have, and we accomplished that,” Hinze said. “Joe Amburn was a workhorse for us and he ran great. Adrian Ray was hurt going in and didn’t have the impact we thought he might, but he still finished second in the hurdles.”
On the women’s side, SHSU walked away with several fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place finishes. One of the three medal winners was Renitta Woods, who placed third in the women’s pentathlon and set a new school record.
“As strange as this is going to sound, considering our men were third and the women sixth, I thought our women had a better meet than the men did,” Hinze said.
The women’s 4 x 400 relay team won second place, and finished with a fast enough time to beat the school record.
Hinze said the pole-vaulters were particularly impressive over the weekend, taking home the championships on both the men and women’s sides. Randy Flach took first place with a jump of 16 feet, 8.75 inches, and Jennie Sewell set a new school record with her first place jump of 11 feet, 9.75 inches.
Tenika Powell placed sixth in the shot put, as did Chenequa Parham in the triple jump. Alisha Fowler placed fifth in the high jump, and Summer Sizemore placed fifth in the pole-vault.
Hinze was also pleased with his pentathletes. James Thompson set a school record, finishing fourth overall, and Shandy Oncken finished fifth on the men’s side. On the women’s side, Renitta Woods finished third, Erica Balderson finished fourth and Tiara Young finished seventh.
“We just have to get better and perform when it counts. I’ve said all along that we’ll be a better outdoor team and we will,” Hinze said.