Colorado State gained two new facility records in a dual track meet against the University of Wyoming at the CSU Jack Christiansen Memorial Track on Friday, May 5.

Nationally ranked No. 1 shot putter Mostafa Hassan set a new facility record with his throw of 67-8.25 (20.63m). Middle distance runner Macy Kreutz broke the previous facility record for the 1,500 meter race. Her time of 4:26.08 beat the previous record of 4:26.40 by tenths of a second.

Head coach Brian Bedard said he needs to keep Hassan in good shape to win the national competition.

“I just need to be smart with his training, stick with the cues that work with him, keep things simple, keep him healthy, stay out of his way and let him do his job,” Bedard said. “He’s in a good position. He’s confident.”

Hassan was not well-rested for his record-breaking performance at the last regular season meet for the Rams. He and Bedard used the meet to train for the national meet.

“[He did well] considering we trained him hard all week, and I made him throw probably 20 throws before the competition even started,” Bedard said. “We essentially used this as a training session for him.”

Hassan was not trying to give his top performance at this meet, but he was hoping to break the facility record.

“It felt really good [to break the record], cause that was my goal to throw at today’s meet, because the record wasn’t held by a CSU athlete,” he said. “I’m not planning to throw peak for these meets. I’m planning to peak for nationals.”

Not all the athletes were looking ahead to the national’s competition. Many competed for a spot on the team going to the upcoming conference meet. The coaches used the meet to decide which athletes would receive a place on the roster.

“We’re still figuring out our conference team, so it gave us an opportunity to look at some athletes with warm weather and on a home venue,” Bedard said. “It’s a good situation for them to try to hit a new season best and maybe solidify a spot on the conference team.”

Many athletes did have season best performances. Autumn Gardner set a new high jump personal record of 5-10.75(1.80m). She cleared the height on her first attempt, giving her the second highest jump in CSU history for a female high.

She said she surprised herself by clearing the bar on her first attempt at that height. Her performance has her looking past the conference meet and at the possibility of qualifying for nationals.

“I feel like conference might be just kind of a small step to get there,” Gardner said. “Since I cleared 1.80m, that might be able to get me into the national NCAA meet. So that would be a dream for me.”

The vertical jumps coach, Ryan Baily, said he expects she will do well in the conference competition.

“I feel like she’s coming to terms with more confidence than she’s ever had,” Baily said. “I’m excited to see what she can do at conference, because she really wants that school record.”

Another high jumper achieved a season best at the meet. Collin Scheer cleared a personal-record height of 6-11 (2.11m). His height is third best in the team’s history.

“He opened there just to take a few jumps to save his legs for the conference next week, and to make that 6-11 bar on his third attempt was one of the coolest performances I’ve ever seen,” Baily said. “He’s all heart, he’s all determination and never once did he not believe he could do it.”

Scheer said the track team is a family to him, and that gives him confidence. He wanted to perform well for his teammates.

“I came out here today and just wanted to do something special for [my teammates] and get some momentum going into conference,” Scheer said. “We go out and we compete for each other, and I think that’s what sets us apart.”

Thrower Kelcey Bedard threw a personal-best of 206-7 (62.98m) in the hammer throw to win the event. Both Bedard and Hassan also won the discus competition. Bedard threw a mark of 162-7 (49.55m), and Hassan threw a mark of 165-7 (50.47m).

Coach Bedard said Kelcey had been having trouble with coaching cues, and they were able to fix those before the meet.

“She struggled the last couple weeks and we were able to redefine those [cues] this week and get back on track,” Brian Bedard said.

His daughter said all the training paid off during her performance.

“I’ve been working on a lot of stuff. I’ve had a couple of rough weeks,” Kelcey Bedard said. “It seemed to all come together today.”

Both teams are gearing up for the Mountain West Conference meet. Wyoming coach Bryan Berryhill wanted to warm his athletes up for conference competition with the meet.

“We hadn’t competed in a few weeks since our meet got cancelled, so we felt like a few of the kids were getting a little rusty from not competing,” Berryhill said. “We wanted to get out there and compete and hopefully get a little confidence before we head out to [conference].”

Baily said he wants his jumpers to help the CSU team win the conference meet.

“Next week’s a team meet. [Individual] marks are great and all, but we want to get to the top of that podium, and help the team out and get as many points as we can,” Baily said.

The Rams will compete in the Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Logan, Utah from Wednesday, May 10 to Friday, May 12.

Collegian sports reporter Willis Scott can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @WillisScottNews.