LAS VEGAS — BYU swept both the men's and women's team titles at the 2004 Mountain West Conference outdoor track and field championships Saturday at UNLV.
It was the fifth straight title in the five years of the conference's existence for the men, while it was the fourth championship in five years for the women after placing second to San Diego State in 2003.
BYU's men finished with 261 points, ahead of Colorado State (196), Air Force (161.5), New Mexico (94.5), Wyoming (73) and Utah (22). On the women's side, the Cougars scored 228 points, followed by San Diego State (160), Colorado State (117), Wyoming (96), Utah (63), UNLV (58), Air Force (50) and New Mexico (46).
Breaking men's MWC records were Matthew Rowe of BYU in the 400-meter dash (46.29), while the BYU 4x400m relay team set an MWC championship meet record with a time of 3:07.72 and repeated as 4x400 champions.
BYU's Niklas Arrhenius was named freshman of the year for the men. Robison Pratt won outstanding performance honors, while both Mark Robison and Craig Poole won coach of the year honors.
Arrhenius won both the discus and shot put. Greg Flint of BYU defended his 400m hurdle title with a winning time of 50.67.
For Utah, Vanessa Mortensen finished second in the hammer, throwing 59.59m. Her mark is not only a new personal record, but also a new school record for the sophomore thrower. Jen Jackman finished second in the 400m hurdles (59.92) and sixth in the 100m hurdles (14.53). Nellie Hammons finished third in the 800m in 2:10.39.
On the men's side, Nephi Tyler finished third in the 1,500m in 3:50.46.
BIG SKY: Weber State's men's outdoor track and field team won the 2004 Big Sky Championship on Saturday in Ogden. The Wildcats scored 182 points to claim their sixth title in the last seven years. The women's team took second place, falling by one point to Northern Arizona.
Weber junior Wiley King scored a new Big Sky record 42 points during the championship while competing in eight events.