All-Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Teams Announced

May 18, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Mountain West Conference announced its Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field all-Conference teams today. All-conference selections are awarded to the top three finishers in each event.

On Saturday, the Conference announced the MWC Men's and Women's Coaches of The Year, High Point and Outstanding Performance award recipients. This year's MWC Men's Coach of the Year award was given to Mark Robison of BYU. Robison received his fifth-consecutive career accolade in six years at the helm of the Cougar program. On the women's side, Colorado State's Brian Bedard earned the honor after coaching the Rams to their first MWC Outdoor Track and Field Championship title.

New Mexico senior Robert Caldwell earned the MWC Men's Outstanding Performance award after breaking the MWC Championship record for the men's pole vault, soaring 18'-1.00" (5.51m) to secure his first title in the event. Fellow Lobo Katie Coronado set a new Lowdon Track and Field Complex record in the women's javelin with a toss of 176'-01.00" (53.67m) to capture the MWC Women's Outstanding Performance award. The junior won the javelin title with the second-longest toss in Championship history.

Leif Arrhenius, a BYU sophomore, became the first Cougar since 2005 to earn the MWC Men's High Point award with 28 points. Arrhenius took the title in both the shot put and the discus throw, while securing runner-up honors in the hammer throw. The women's award went to Colorado State senior Emily Pearson, who racked up 26.25 points in five of the six championship events she competed in. She posted runner-up finishes in the heptathlon, 100-meter hurdles and the javelin, while also running a leg on both the Rams' 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, which placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Below is a list of individual awards as well as the men's and women's all-MWC selections with events participated in at the 2008 Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Worth, Texas. The BYU men captured their ninth straight title, while the Colorado State women took home their first MWC Outdoor Championship crown.