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BYU Men and Colorado State Women Lead After Day Two at MWC Outdoor Track & Field Championships New Mexico's Sandy Fortner wins women's heptathlon
May 15, 2008 FORT WORTH, Texas - New Mexico's Sandy Fortner set a new school record on Thursday to win the women's heptathlon at the 2008 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. On the men's side, BYU's Justin Palmer brought home the title with 7,054 points at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex. Fortner, who posted both the second-largest point total all-time in MWC Championship history and the second-best mark in league history, won the event with 5,641 points. She placed third in the women's long jump with a leap of 18'-11.75" (5.78m), while also finishing in second-place in the javelin with a toss of 133'-7.00" (40.72m). Her point-total currently sits in the top-10 in the NCAA this spring. Overall, the junior, who was just two points shy from meeting the MWC Championship record, broke an 18-year-old Lobo record set by Darcy Ahner in 1990 by 222 points. Emily Pearson of Colorado State earned runner-up honors by recording 5,605 points. Pearson, who led following the first day of competition, won the javelin on Thursday with a throw of 139'-11.00" (42.64m). The senior currently sits at No. 7 overall in the NCAA this season. Katie Lloyd of Colorado State (5,398) and Kristin Olafsdottir of San Diego State (5,342) finished third and fourth, respectively, while San Diego State's Shana Watson placed fifth overall with 5,050 points. TCU's Meaghan Peoples, who broke her own school record in the event, placed sixth with 4,974 points. BYU's Chelsi Petersen finished in seventh with 4,883 points, while Colorado State's Kristen Kugler posted 4,751 points to earn eighth-place honors. Air Force's Danielle McCarty (4,411) rounded out the scoring at ninth overall. Palmer won the men's title by capturing the men's discus on Thursday. The junior, who placed first overall in both the shot put and long jump, tossed the discus 132'-11.00" (40.52m) to claim the victory. Palmer's teammate Chase Dalton earned runner-up honors with 6,982 points. Dalton, who earned a victory in the high jump on the first day of competition, had an impressive outing on Thursday as he claimed the javelin title with a throw of 198'-7.00" (60.53m). Jordan Calderwood of BYU (6,650) and Skylar Morgan of Air Force (6,557) earned third and fourth overall, respectively. Air Force teammates Noah Palicia (6,452) and Matt Gensic (6,339) followed in fifth and sixth-place, while Jay Petsch of Wyoming totaled 6,092 points for seventh-place honors. Colorado State's Chad Gibson closed the scoring with 5,730 to place eighth overall. BYU has now won the men's decathlon four different times in MWC Championship history. Palmers' victory marked the first win by a Cougar in the event since 2004. In the inaugural men's hammer throw competition at Lowdon Track and Field Complex, Colorado State's Alex Godell finished in first-place with an NCAA regional qualifying toss of 200'-10.00" (61.22m). Godell toss ranks in the top-50 of the NCAA. Leif Arrhenius of BYU recorded runner-up honors with a regional qualifying toss of 198'-02.00" (60.40m), while Colorado State's Jason Schutz tossed the hammer 195'-00.00" (59.44m). His mark was also an NCAA regional qualifying mark. BYU currently leads the men's field with 32 points, followed by Colorado State (20), Air Force (19) and Wyoming (7). On the women's side, Colorado State is ahead with 15 points, with New Mexico trailing at 10. San Diego State (9), TCU (3) and BYU (2) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively, heading into day three. Competition continues on Friday, starting with the women's 10,000-meter run at 7:30 a.m. CT.
Final Women's Heptathlon Results:
Final Men's Decathlon Results:
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