CSU track and field: Women finish 1st, men 2nd at MW Indoor Championships
February 28, 2023
It was a familiar scene at the end of the Mountain West Indoor Championships as the Colorado State University track and field team finished first in the women’s and second in the men’s for the second year in a row.
On the women’s end, the team finished the competition with 125.5 points, only one better than the second place University of New Mexico, to eke out the win and secure back-to-back indoor conference championships.
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The men’s side finished with a similar 126 points, firmly in second place behind the outstanding 208 total put up by the United States Air Force Academy.
There was plenty to celebrate with many CSU athletes placing highly over the three-day competition.
CSU field sees double-digit podium spots in Albuquerque takeover
The Colorado State field team put together all of their impressive work throughout the indoor season to rack up 13 top-three finishes at the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championship this past weekend.
The Rams started the championship on day one as Lexie Keller dominated the women’s pentathlon event with a total of 4,306 points, winning the event and finishing with the second best mark in the entire nation that day. She placed top five in all five events, with first place finishes in the shot put and long jump portions.
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On the men’s side, Drew Thompson won the heptathlon with a personal record of 5,281 total points. Fellow Ram Elijah Scott ended the day on the podium with 5,148 points to earn the bronze.
The third first place finish came from pole vaulter Eldridge Harris, who defended his outdoor title from last year by clearing the 5.15-meter mark. Later that day, Mya Lesnar finished first in the women’s weight throw with a personal record of 20.68 meters. Teammate Michaela Hawkins took home the bronze with a mark of 18.65 meters.
Lesnar doubled up on podium spots, earning her way to third place in the shot put. But fellow CSU thrower Gabi McDonald bested her with a second place finish at 17.55 meters, another personal record.
The fifth and final first place finish came courtesy of Allam Bushara, whose mark of 15.72 meters in the men’s triple jump was good enough to secure the gold.
There were two more silver medals handed out to Rams: one to Celyn Stermer in the women’s pole vault and the other to Mariano Kis in the men’s shot put.
To round out podium finishes, Ryan Blake won the third place spot for the men’s high jump event.
Now that the Rams have racked up plenty more accolades during the indoor season, the team is ecstatic to begin the transition to outdoor season, which begins in late March.
However, before the beginning of the outdoor season, a select few Colorado State athletes will move on to the indoor track and field NCAA championships March 10-11 to represent the university on the big stage.
Reach Dylan Heinrich at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dylanrheinrich.
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Women’s track and field strikes gold at Mountain West Indoor Championship
Colorado State University’s track and field put on a show at the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championship with multiple athletes taking gold.
Throughout the three-day event, the Rams were put to the test, but the women held on to become the 2023 champions, making them back-to-back Mountain West indoor champs. The women had a final score of 125.5, beating the University of New Mexico by just one point. The men put up a good fight but could not take first as they finished second behind the U.S. Air Force Academy.
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Graduate student Sarah Carter led the way for the women’s track team, winning two gold medals during the championship. Carter won her first medal Friday night in the women’s 3,000-meter run with a time of 9 minutes, 17.21 seconds. The next day, Carter continued to dominate in the distance events, winning her second medal in the women’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:07:28, landing in CSU’s top five times for the event.
Jahzara Davis was another Ram to win a medal for women’s track as she placed third in the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.52 seconds. Every point mattered for the women this year as it came down to the last event, the 4×400-meter relay. The women did take first in this event, but placing fifth would have been enough for the Rams to hold their lead.
While men’s track didn’t place first in any events this year, three athletes still took home medals. The men had two silver medalists, as Michael Mooney finished second in the men’s 3,000-meter and Ryan Birkmeier finished second in the men’s 800-meter. The one bronze medal belongs to Germain Barnes, as he finished third in the men’s 60-meter hurdles.
Now that the Mountain West Championship is over, CSU’s track and field teams will start preparing for the outdoor season, which begins March 24. But the indoor season isn’t over for everyone as a few Rams wait on confirmation regarding their participation in the NCAA Championship meet.
Reach Tyler Azzaro at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @TylerAzzaro.