UVU indoor track team competes in WAC Championships

Photo Courtesy of UVU Athletics

On Feb. 22-23, UVU’s indoor track team headed to Nampa, Idaho to compete in the WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, with both the men and women finishing in third place.

On the women’s side, the distance runners led the way. Sophomore Hannah Branch won the  3000m race with a time of 10:02, just ahead of senior teammate Paityn Chynoweth, who finished third in the event. Both women placed again during the 5000m race, where Branch took second with a 17:37 and Chynoweth again took the bronze with a 10:05.

In the mile race, senior Savannah Neuberger cruised to a victory behind a time of 4:53, with senior Aisha Graham coming in just a second behind to secure the silver. Neuberger and Graham likewise placed in the 800m run, taking second and third with times of 2:08 and 2:10, respectively. The Wolverines capped it off with a victory in the distance medley from freshmen Annicka Perry and Taylor Viertel and sophomores Lexi MacArthur and Abby Garlock with a time of 12:13.

In the pentathlon, junior Tiera Orr placed second with 3495 total points, which included a joint victory in the high jump with freshman Madison Clark. During the regular high jump competition, sophomore Kallie Given took second while Orr placed third with a jump of 1.67m. The 4x400m relay team also placed second in the meet.

On the men’s side, the Wolverines had victories from senior Daven Russell in the shot put with a throw of 17.79m, sophomore Alex Lawrence in the pole vault with a jump of 5.04m, and the distance medley team made up of freshman Jacob Egan and sophomores Seth Dabb, Lamek Keditukei, and Kale Sharp, who finished with a combined time of 10:17.

Junior Albert MacArthur grabbed second-place finishes in both the long jump (7.52m) and triple jump jump (15.46m), while senior Kevin Lynch added another in the 5000m with a time of 15:02.

The women’s team finished with a total of 122 points in the meet. The men’s team ended with a score of 136.5 points, just 1.5 points behind UT-Rio Grande Valley. Grand Canyon University claimed the WAC title on both the men’s and women’s side.

The track team will head to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 8-9.