ALBUQUERQUE — The BYU men and women both emerged victorious from the 2011 Mountain West Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, held at the Albuquerque Convention Center in New Mexico. The Cougar men (193 points) won their ninth-straight title, while the BYU women (181.5 points) took home their 10th crown in 12 years, winning by almost a 75-point margin.
"What a great team effort," men's head coach Mark Robison said. "I couldn't be happier for our guys. The coaches and athletes all did great."
The Cougar men got five first-place finishes on the second and final day of competition to secure the Cougars' conference title. Air Force finished in second with 122 points.
"Today we had a phenomenal day," Robison said. "We performed extremely well."
Sophomore Victor Weirich won the pole vault, clearing a height of 5.38m (17 feet, 7.75 inches). BYU picked up even more points with seniors Chris Little finishing second and Tanner Emrich taking fourth.
The triple jump went well for junior Anse Myller DeAraujo, jumping 15.15m (49 feet, 8.5 inches) for third place. Junior Kyle Mills finished in fifth place and jumped 14.94m (49 feet, 0.25 inches).
Senior Leif Arrhenius picked up his second championship of the meet with a victory in the shot put. The All-American had a throw of 18.80m (61 feet, 8.25 inches).
The Cougars also had a one-two finish in the 800 meters with junior Justin Hedin taking the top spot with a time of 1:49.77 for a new meet record and senior Brian Weirich right behind him with a time of 1:50.60.
In the 400-meter dash, BYU was able to again pick up the first and second spots to pick up more points. Junior Chris Carter ran a 47.73 for the win and sophomore Sean Adams in 48.16 for the second-place finish. Sophomore James Derek McAllister picked up a sixth-place finish with a time of 49.59.
Junior Miles Batty won the mile event in a time of 4:15.23 to add to the scoring total, and sophomores Travis Fuller and Jacob Cosby finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
The 3,000-meter run featured freshman Jared Ward participating despite a hard 5,000 meters the night before. Ward finished in second place and set a lifetime-best record time of 8:18.73.
The Cougars 4x400-meter relay team suffered a botched handoff but managed to finish in second place. McAllister, Adams, Hedin and Carter finished in a time of 3:12.92.
Arrhenius earned a share of the men's High Point Award along with Justin Tyner of Air Force.
On the women's side, BYU senior Mindy Sagers earned second-place honors in the women's 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.524.
In the women's mile, Cougar junior Katie Palmer captured first-place honors with a time of 4:51.73. That time ranks second in Conference Championship history and marks the 10th time a Cougar has won the event. Utah sophomore Amanda Mergaert finished second, clocking a time of 4.52.00, a mark that ranks third in MWC Championship history. BYU junior Kari Hardt came in third with a time of 4:54.04.
BYU junior Natalie Stewart finished third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.95.
Cougar junior Lacey Bleazard finished first in the women's 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2:05.65 to take the title. This is the fifth year in a row that a Cougar has won the event. Her time also ranks second in MWC Championship history. Utah junior Lucy Yates tallied runner-up honors with a time of 2:09.40, while BYU senior Nicole Clark finished third with a time of 2:09.87.
Porshe Giddings, a senior for BYU ended up in the third-place spot in the women's 200-meter dash with a time of 23.87; she also took third in the 60-meter dash with a mark of 7.49.
Cougar junior Kari Hardt finished third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:54.49.
BYU junior Ada Robinson repeated as MWC champion in the women's high jump by leaping 6 feet, 0.75 inches.
"The high jump event signified what our team has been about all year," BYU women's coach Patrick Shane said. "Ada believed in herself and never gave up and that has been the mantra of our entire team this season."
BYU's 4x400-relay team came in second with a time of 3:42.28.
Shane was named conference women's coach of the year.
The team will now prepare for the Last Chance Invitational next week in South Bend, Ind.
"We had no letdowns at this meet," Shane said. "Everyone that competed for BYU this weekend competed hard and did very well. I am so proud of the entire team. This has been a fun year."