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Mountain West Conference Announces Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week BYU's Leif Arrhenius, New Mexico's Lee Emanuel and San Diego State's Stephanie Bagan honored
April 15, 2008 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - BYU sophomore Leif Arrhenius and New Mexico junior Lee Emanuel have been selected as the Mountain West Conference Men's Outdoor Track and Field Co-Athletes of the Week, while San Diego State sophomore Stephanie Bagan has been selected as the Mountain West Conference Women's Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week. Arrhenius unleashed the longest throw in the nation at the Missouri Tom Botts Invitational on April 11, held in Columbia, Mo., despite 40-degree weather. The Orem, Utah, native's winning throw of 207'-1.00" (63.12m) qualifies him as the fifth-best thrower in BYU history and was more than two feet farther than the next thrower's mark at the meet. The regional-qualifying toss ranks first in the nation according to TrackShark.com, first in the league by more than 11 feet so far this season, fourth in the all-time MWC record book and is the new Audrey J. Walton Stadium record. Also recording a national-leading performance last weekend, Emanuel ran the men's 1,500-meter in 3:40.77 at the Arizona State Sun Angel Track Classic held in Tempe, Ariz. Emanuel was the first collegiate runner to cross the finish line, missing the 29-year-old Lobo record by 2.17 seconds in his first collegiate 1,500-meter race. He finished 1.25 seconds ahead of the nearest collegiate runner in a competitive field that included athletes from No. 7 Arizona State, No. 9 Alabama, No. 12 Auburn and No. 18 Wisconsin. The Hastings, England, product's regional-qualifying time currently leads the MWC and ranks third all-time in the league record book. On the women's side, Aztec pole vaulter Stephanie Bagan finished in a tie for second place among collegiate athletes last weekend at the Tennessee Sea-Ray Relays held in Knoxville, Tenn. Hailing from Granite Bay, Calif., Bagan cleared 13'-11.25" (4.25m) to qualify for NCAA Regionals. In the process, she reclaimed her spot atop the NCAA leaderboard, according to TrackShark.com, for the second time this season. Following her personal-record vault, Bagan was the new record holder in the event at Tennessee's Tom Black Track and LaPorte Stadium until former Aztec All-American Erin Asay cleared 14'-3.25" to win the title. Bagan currently owns the top clearance in the league and now ranks second all-time in San Diego State and MWC history.
This marks Arrhenius' second honor of the season, while Emanuel and Bagan each earned their first career honors. Mountain West Conference Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Week Date Men Women March 25 Anthony Fairbanks, Jr., New Mexico Courtney Gougler, Jr., Wyoming April 1 Leif Arrhenius, So., BYU Decontee Kaye, Jr., San Diego State April 8 Bob Low, Jr., BYU Kishelle Paul, Jr., TCU April 15 Leif Arrhenius, So., BYU Stephanie Bagan, So., San Diego State Lee Emanuel, Jr., New Mexico |
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