LARAMIE, Wyo. - With most of the 2017 outdoor track & field season in the books, the University of Wyoming track & field team travels to Logan, Utah, this week for the 2017 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Pokes have had a successful outdoor campaign so far, amassing a whopping 21 UW all-time top 10 marks, including two school records. With Mountain West team titles on the line, a number of Wyoming individuals are ranked near the top of the conference in their respective events and will attempt to keep or raise their conference positions in tough fields of competition this week.
Cowboy senior Scott Carter has certainly been one of the most consistent athletes for Wyoming this season. Heading into his final conference championship meet after five years at UW, Carter will attempt to defend his indoor conference championship in the triple jump with an individual title of the outdoor variety. It won’t be easy, however, as the men’s triple jump field is stacked with talented athletes. Carter’s recent leap of 53 feet, 4.25 inches at Friday’s dual meet vs. Colorado State is tops in the conference and No. 4 in conference history, but New Mexico’s Samuel Trigg is a close second at 52-10.75. Carter is also ranked near the top of the conference in the long jump at 24-1.75, good enough for third in the league. In the 110-meter hurdles, Carter is tied for fifth with a time of 14.30 seconds. The versatile senior will attempt to repeat his performance from the MW indoor championships, where he scored 23 points individually for the Pokes - taking first in the triple jump, second in the long jump and fourth in the 110-meter hurdles.
Fellow senior Jordan Charles has been an all-conference competitor in the 110-meter hurdles three times in his career, but has never finished as the top 110-meter hurdler in the league. With his final chance for an individual title in the event coming this week, Charles enters the conference championship with a grip on the top spot in the league at 13.81 seconds, good enough to tie for the fourth-best time in Mountain West history for the event. Charles is a key part of the Cowboys 4x100-meter relay team as well, a squad that posted the No. 2 time in the MW during the regular season and will attempt to take down event leader Air Force for the conference title. Damon Unland is the Cowboys’ other individual conference leader, entering this week’s action with the top mark in the MW for the hammer throw at 198 feet even.
For the Cowgirls, sophomore sprinter Jerayah Davis is searching for an individual title in the women’s 100 meters against a very talented field. Davis’ school record of 11.42 seconds is currently third in the Mountain West behind standouts Ashley Henderson of San Diego State and Destiny Smith-Barnett of UNLV. Davis enjoys being surrounded by talented athletes, however, and will attempt to have similar success to her indoor conference championship meet in which she produced two All-MW awards in the 60 meters and long jump. Davis is also part of a solid women’s 4x100-meter relay squad that will compete for an all-conference honor after posting the third-best time in the league during the regular season.
The meet will be hosted by Utah State University at Ralph Maughan Track Stadium and will begin on Wednesday with the multi-events, while track events start Thursday night and field events begin Friday morning. Megan Brunette will be the first competitor for Wyoming, as she is scheduled to compete in the women’s 10,000 meters on Thursday night. The meet will conclude on Saturday after a number of field events and track event finals. Stay tuned to GoWyo.com and
@wyo_track on Twitter for updates.
Next Up
Wyoming individuals in the West Region’s top 48 for each event, as well as relay teams in the region’s top 24, will travel to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas, May 25-27.
