The Colorado State Rams indoor track and field team was scattered this weekend but the results were much the same as school and conference records changed hands across the board.
The action started in Seattle, Washington where the CSU distance team spent the weekend.
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In the men’s 5,000-meter run on Friday juniors Jerrell Mock and Grant Fisher blazed their way into the CSU record books. Mock clocked in at 13:44.65, good for the CSU all-time record and the fourth-best time in Mountain West history. Fisher finished right behind Mock with a 13:46.58. Fisher’s time is the second best in CSU history and stands as a 35-second improvement over his prior personal best.
“The 5k is a big event for us,” CSU distance coach Art Siemers said. “Jerrell — being an All-American and the school record holder — really wanted to try to punch tickets to nationals. He did a great job to run a time that broke the school record and will likely get him to the NCAA Championships again. It was a great breakthrough race for (Fisher). He’s been getting better and better.”
On the women’s side junior Darby Gilfillan knocked 22 seconds off of her previous best in the 5,000 to grab the CSU school-record in the event with a time of 16:22.19.
On Saturday the distance runners kept up the pace in Seattle.
Senior Jefferson Abbey got back into gear this indoor season and ran a 7:56.48 in the 3,000, his time is the best for any CSU runner this season and second in school history only to his 7:51.38 during last year’s indoor season.
“Jeff knew that today was important and, on a big stage, ran so well” Siemers said. “That’s the Jeff that we’re used to. It was exciting for our team because he’s our leader. He’s one of the ones that got our distance program to where it is now over the past few years so it was great to see him run so well.”
Sophomore Cole Rockhold kept rolling this season as he became only the second runner in school history to run a sub-four minute mile with a 3.59.55 unadjusted time on Saturday. It is the fastest unadjusted time of Rockhold’s career.
The rest of the team spent the weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the Don Kirby Invitational where record-breaking remained the status quo.
For the fourth straight meet senior Lorenda Holston broke her own school record in the 60-meter hurdles. Holston ran an 8.06 in the finals on Saturday, up from an 8.13 at last weekend’s CU Open meet. Not only is the time a new school record but Holston is now the all-time conference leader in the event as she topped the previous record set by San Diego State’s Micha Auzzenne back in January.
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In the shot put senior Aaliyah Pete and junior Mostafa Hassan added some more hardware to some already crowded trophy cases on Saturday.
Hassan–who holds the outdoor school record in the event–broke the CSU indoor record with a throw of 66-8.5. The toss broke Magnus Lohse’s school record set back in January of 2005 and Hassan now has the second best mark in indoor conference history.
Not to be outdone by Hassan, Pete put up a personal best 55-2.25 in the women’s shot put. The mark puts Pete second on the all-time CSU list and third in conference history in the event.
To cap off the record-breaking weekend senior Emily Romo recorded a new personal best of her own with a 53.75 in the women’s 400-meter run. With the time Romo upped her own school record by .03.
“For the most part everyone that competed at Don Kirby had some highlights that really showed off the strengths of our team,” CSU assistant coach Ryan Baily said. “The big performances will help set us up for the conference championships. Overall the team is really shaping up.”
Collegian sports reporter Eric Wolf can be reached at sports@collegian.com and on twitter @Eric_Wolf5.
