It was the same old story at this weekend's Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships in Colorado Springs. The BYU men's team overwhelmed the competition to claim its eighth straight WAC championship, and the BYU women's team won its 10th straight conference championship.
Jason Pyrah won both the 800- and 1,500-meter runs, but it was BYU's depth that turned the men's meet into a rout. The Cougars swept the first four places in the pole vault, and scored four athletes in three other events, as well - the hammer, discus and triple jump.BYU finished with 270.5 points. UTEP was a distant second with 160 points.
"We had some remarkable performances as a team," said Coach Willard Hirschi. "We performed even better than I expected."
Hirschi received points where he never expected them. Sean Maye not only won the 400-meter dash (with a time of 46.61), but, in his first try at the high jump this year, leaped 6-10 3/4to place fifth.
BYU also received big points from three football players. Offensive lineman Eli Herring won the shot put, cornerback Patrick Mitchell won the high hurdles for the second straight year and wide receiver Tyler Andersen was second in the 400.
As expected, Pyrah, a sophomore from Missouri, dominated the middle-distance events. For the second consecutive year he won both the 800 (time: 1:51.41) and the 1,500 (3:50.54). Meanwhile, Brent Patera claimed his third WAC championship in the discus with a throw of 195-6; Dave Spence won the 5,000-meter run in 15:04.92 for the second year in a row; and Rick McWhorter won the pole vault with a mark of 17-1 1/2.
All this notwithstanding, UTEP's Olapade Adeniken was voted the meet's outstanding performer. He won the 100- and 200-meter dashes with wind-aided times of 9.99 and 20.00, respectively.
After winning his second WAC track and field title Saturday and the tenth straight conference championship in a row, BYU's women's coach Craig Poole had a number of comments about the four-day meet at the Air Force Academy:
"It was cold as can be, windy and hazy, and not conducive for good times and marks - a terrible situation in which to try to qualify for nationals.
"By winning the conference title again, we kept our tradition alive.
"The kids did a good job. Several had personal bests. I was pleased with every person in every event. They pulled for each other and they pulled together.
"Brooke Stanton was second in the 400 with a personal best and school record 54.64.
"Because of the cold conditions and the NCAA championships coming up, we didn't push Anu (Kaljurand) to win the 100m hurdles." (Kaljurand has already qualified for NCAAs in this event.)
"Our coaching staff of Patrick Shane (distance) and Jay Silvester (throws), and our trainers Ollie Julkunen and Charlie Davidson had everyone carefully prepared and they were kept in excellent condition."
Poole said that Cathie Guischard would have qualified for nationals in the 100-meter dash but the finish line wasn't pointed out to the runners and they coasted in. She won the event, however, in 11.59.
BYU won the championships with 224 points, followed by CSU 141, UTEP 101, SDSU 94, Wyoming, 80, UNM 45.5 and Utah 36.