May 17, 2009
Houston, Texas -
Utah Valley University's men's and women's track and field teams swept the Great West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Houston Baptist University.
Utah Valley claimed the women's title with 253.5 points, while South Dakota tallied 206.5 points to finish second. Texas-Pan American placed third with 117 points while North Dakota and host Houston Baptist tied for fourth place with 103.5 points each. Chicago State (20) and NJIT (8) rounded out the tournament field with sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively.
On the men's side, UVU captured first place honors with a total of 224.5 points. The Wolverine men defeated South Dakota by a total of 16 points as USD finished with 208.5 points. HBU took third place honors with 116 points, while UTPA claimed fourth place with 88 points and Chicago State was in fifth with 61 points. Rounding out the men's field was NJIT (56 points) and North Dakota (54 points) who finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
After UVU won both titles, UVU head track and field coach Scott Houle was named the men's and women's coach of the year. Wolverine freshman Michael McPherson was named men's newcomer of the year as well as the athlete of the year, while junior Tiera Zaugg won women's athlete of the year accolades and HBU's Joslyn Cooper earned women's newcomer of the year honors.
Zaugg earned athlete of the year honors as she continued her dominating performance by winning her third event of the championships Saturday, winning the women's 400m hurdles with a time of 1:02.64. A day earlier Zaugg won the women's heptathlon as well as the women's long jump. HBU's Cooper earned women's newcomer of the year honors after winning the 100 meters and 200 meters.
McPherson was named the men's newcomer of the year as well as athlete of the year as he won the decathlon and long jump events on Friday. On Saturday, McPherson placed in a number of events namely the true freshman finished second in the triple jump (14.04m), was a member of UVU's 4x400m relay which placed second (3:18.81), as well as finishing fourth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.98. McPherson was also named the GWC Indoor Newcomer of the Year as well as the Athlete of the Year back in the beginning of March.
In the final day at the three day long GWC Championships, both UVU men's and women's teams had to finish strong to compete for their respective championship and did as they combined to win seven events on Saturday.
UVU junior hurdler Andrew Graham finished off his impressive season as he won both of the hurdle events on Saturday, the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.20 and the 400m hurdles with a time of 53.75. Graham was also a member of the Wolverines 4x400m relay team which took second as he helped them finish with a time of 3:18.81.
Utah Valley brought home gold in the men's 4x100m relay at the Wolverine tandem of brothers Mike Fogt and Brent Fogt as well as Logan McNeil and Jorden Pope finished their victory with a time of 41.79. UVU sophomore Sterling Clegg won another event on the day as he won the men's high jump clearing the 1.99m.
On the women's side, UVU 4x100m relay team of Jazmine Wittman, Zandrea Nelson, Amanda Morse, and Chelsea Baker won the women's relay with a blazing time of 47.77. Sophomore Chelsea Baker continued her strong final day of competition for the Wolverine women's team as she finished first in the 400m dash with a time of 56.67. Baker's teammate, freshman Zandrea Nelson finished right behind her as she came in second with a time of 56.72.
Please see the attached results of the GWC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the bottom of this page for complete results.
GWC Outdoor Track and Field Championship Awards:
Men's Awards
Newcomer of the Year - Michael McPherson, UVU
Coach of the Year - Scott Houle, UVU
Athlete of the Year - Michael McPherson, UVU
Women's Awards
Newcomer of the Year - Joslyn Cooper, HBU
Coach - Scott Houle, UVU
Athlete of the Year - Tiera Zaugg, UVU
http://hbuhuskies.com/stats/tfxc0708/09gwc-completeresults.htm
