As the Colorado State Rams indoor track and field season keeps moving forward one thing remains constant. Lorenda Holston and Cole Rockhold keep running faster.
Holston, who ran a school best 8.13 in the women’s 60-meter hurdles at the CU Open over the weekend, ended a meet with the school record for the the third time this season. The senior won the event to highlight Saturday’s action as the Rams travelled to Boulder for the second time this season.
“It’s a school record, and a step forward in her confidence, knowing that she’s close to breaking 8.10 and hopefully an ‘8.0’ soon… that’s what we’re looking for,” said CSU sprints coach Karim Abdel Wahab. “We’re really hoping that at the New Mexico meet next week we’ll be able to PR and get a good mark. If she stays focused she can do that.”
Holston’s 8.13 is also the second best time in Mountain West conference history in the discipline.
Rockhold headlined Friday for the Rams as the sophomore ran a 4:03.12 in the seeded mile run. Because Rockhold finished fourth in the event his unofficial altitude adjusted time of 3:57.12 could place him as high as fourth in the country when the official time is recorded. Coming into this weekend the fastest mile time in the nation, including altitude adjustments, was 3:57.39 from Adam Palamar of Syracuse.
Rockhold’s 4:03.12 now sits as the second best indoor time in school history.
“We knew there would be some very good runners for CU running, and Cole (Rockhold) was ready to run fast,” said CSU distance coach Art Siemers. “We knew if he could run under 4:05 he had a really good chance to make it to nationals after scratches. Typically a 3:58 mile makes it to the NCAA Championships so Cole has a time that is nearly a lock.”
Other Friday highlights include the pole vault where CSU took home first place in both the women’s and men’s event. Junior Nick Meihaus won on the men’s side with a 15-7 while personal bests from junior Stephanie Bess (12-10) and freshman Aliya Simpson (11-11.75) placed them first and second in the women’s event.
In the high jump junior Hunter Price cleared 6-9 and junior Autumn Gardner jumped 5-8.5 as the Rams took home another sweep.
Other first place finishers for CSU on Friday include Mostafa Hassan (weight throw) and senior Emily Romo who won the women’s 400-meter run with a 54.94, the second best indoor time in school history behind her personal best of 53.75.
On Saturday senior Daniel Weirich (55-4.45) and junior Austin Blaho (54-0.75) kicked off the day for the Rams with a 1, 2 finish in the men’s shot put while Aaliyah Pete’s 54-0 paced the Rams to the top four spots in women’s shot put. The senior was followed by Kelcey Bedard, Linnea Johnson and Aimee Larrabee in the final standings of the event.
CSU’s distance runners also found success all over the board on Saturday.
In his first indoor race of the season junior Jerrell Mock won the men’s 3,000-meter run in 8:13.92 while Grant Fisher took home second with a 8:18.55. In the women’s 3,000-meters junior Darby Gillifan finished first while running 9:54.05.
In the women’s 5,000-meters junior Mckenna Spillar (17:35.09) and senior Alex Hess (17:54.14) took home the two top spots in the event. On the men’s side Eric Humer (15:14.20) was followed by Justin Weinmeister and Nick Costello as the Rams swept the podium.
“I thought overall, as a team, I liked the competitive effort this weekend,” said CSU coach Brian Bedard. “It didn’t all line up all the time where we hit personal records and NCAA-qualifying times but I saw a team that was more prepared. The competitive attitude and focus was there across the board.”
CSU is back in action Feb. 10 when the team will split up between the Husky Classic in Seattle, Washington and the Don Kirby Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Collegian sports reporter Eric Wolf can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com and on twitter at eric_wolf5.
