Women’s 4×100 relay team smashes CSU all-time record time for second week in a row

Ashley Potts

April 15, 2019

The new Jack Christiansen Track at Colorado State University saw some incredibly fast times recorded over the weekend at the Doug Max Invitational meet.

The meet featured athletes from Air Force, University of Wyoming and University of Colorado, Boulder. It was originally scheduled for April 12 and 13, but was postponed to April 14 due to weather. Once things finally got going, so did the Rams.

Vaulter vaults — Gabby Smith pushes off the pole as she vaults during the Doug Max Invitational. Smith placed first in the event. (Devin Cornelius | Collegian)

“It was a great day to have a meet,” Head Coach Brian Bedard said in a press release. “We had beautiful weather to celebrate Doug Max and his influence on our program. It was fun to have him out here and acknowledge him. … I think it was important for the impact he’s had on our program and athletic department to acknowledge and lift him up.”

The women’s 4×100 relay team came out in full force, breaking the CSU all-time record for the second time in as many weeks. The team made up of Marybeth Sant, Lauren Gale, Destinee Rocker and Jessica Ozoude broke the record last week with a time of 44.66 seconds. They topped themselves again on Sunday, clocking in at 44.06 seconds. The previous record before this team began breaking them was 44.79 seconds.

“The 4×100 was definitely a highlight for us,” Bedard said in a press release. “It’s fun to see that group get together and do some special things. What’s exciting is that not all the handoffs were perfect — we had one that could be a lot better, so they’re just going to get faster and faster as the season goes on.”

The record-breaking relay runners also made waves in individual events at the meet. Sant came in first and set a personal best in the 100 meter, running it in 11.56 seconds. This beat her previous personal record of 11.80 seconds from last season. She is now ranked third on the CSU all-time list in the event.

Ozoude came in first in the 400 meter, running her personal best time of 53.79. This beat her previous personal best time of 53.84 seconds and puts her at third on the Rams all-time list. Gale came in right behind Ozoude with her own personal best of 53.79 seconds. Gale is now fifth all-time at CSU in the event.

Rocker came in first in the 200 meter, recording a time of 24.15 seconds. That beat her previous best of 24.80 from last season and put her at seventh all-time at CSU.

CSU thrower spins and throws — Shadae Lawrence spins as she participates in the discus throw event at the Doug Max Invitational. Lawrence placed first in the event. (Devin Cornelius | Collegian)

Nathan Gish and Emma Atwell also set personal records at the meet. Gish won the men’s 200 meter, beating his previous record of 21.5 seconds from last year’s Mountain West championships for a new personal best 21.25 seconds. This puts him at ninth all-time at CSU. Atwell won the 3,000 meter steeplechase event with a time of 1:29.72, now fifteenth overall at CSU.

Many other Rams won their events and set personal records at the meet.

“There were some good performances across the board,” Bedard said in a press release. “And that’s always fun to see.”

The Rams will be on the road for several meets in California this week. Starting Wednesday they will be at the Bryan Clay Multis meet at Azusa Pacific before continuing on to the Mt. SAC Relays, Bryan Clay Invitational, Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and Long Beach Invitational.

Ashley Potts can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @ashleypotts09.

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DEVIN CORNELIUS, Digital Managing Editor

Devin Cornelius is the digital managing editor for The Collegian. He is a fifth-year computer science major from Austin, Texas. He moved to Colorado State University and started working for The Collegian in 2017 as a photographer. His passion for photography began in high school, so finding a photography job in college was one of his top priorities. He primarily takes sports photos, volleyball being his favorite to shoot. Having been on The Collegian staff for 4 1/2 years, he's watched the paper evolve from a daily to a weekly paper, and being involved in this transition is interesting and exciting. Although Cornelius is a computer science major, his time at The Collegian has been the most fulfilling experience in his college career — he has loved every second. From working 12-hour days to taking photos in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference, he cannot think of a better place to work. Working as a photographer for The Collegian pushed him outside of his comfort zone, taking him places that he never expected and making him the photographer he is today. As the digital managing editor, Cornelius oversees the photos, graphics and social media of The Collegian along with other small tech things. Working on the editorial staff with Katrina Leibee and Serena Bettis has been super fun and extremely rewarding, and together they have been pushing The Collegian toward being an alt-weekly. Outside of The Collegian, he enjoys playing volleyball, rugby, tumbling and a variety of video games. When in Austin, you can find him out on the lake, wake surfing, wake boarding and tubing. You can expect that Cornelius and the rest of The Collegian staff will do their best to provide you with interesting and exciting content.

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