ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The No. 2 women's distance medley relay time on UW's all-time list highlighted the University of Wyoming track & field team's first day at the 2017 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday. The Cowgirls' team of
Kerry White,
Melina Harris,
Cassidy Meade and
Lauren Hamilton posted an altitude-adjusted time of 11 minutes, 33.31 seconds to finish in fifth place overall.
The Cowboys' distance medley relay team of
Calum Kepler,
Phillip Thomas,
Isaac Kiefer and
Jonah Henry also cracked the UW all-time top 10, finishing in sixth place overall with an adjusted time of 10:07.01 that replaced the previous No. 10 time on the UW all-time list.
In the women's pentathlon,
Clare Nicolas posted a personal best total of 3,233 points that moved her up to No. 6 on the UW all-time list for the event, passing Leah Burke. Nicolas set or tied personal records in three of the pentathlon's five events – the 60-meter hurdles (9.61), high jump (5-1) and shot put (35-7.25). Nicolas finished the long jump with a mark of 16-11.25 and posted a raw time of 2:39.42 in the pentathlon finale, the 800 meters.
"I thought we got off to a solid start today, but tomorrow's really the day that decides the meet," head coach
Bryan Berryhill said following the conclusion of Thursday's action. "It's the qualifying rounds on the track, and if you don't qualify people to the finals, you can't score. Tomorrow's the big day for us. Tomorrow will go a long way toward determining how we do in this meet."
The 2017 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships continue Friday from the Albuquerque Convention Center. The women's weight throw is the first field event on the schedule at 12:30 p.m. MT, while the men's mile will start things off on the track at 1:30. Live streaming is available at the links above, while fans can follow along on Twitter at
@wyo_track.
