GILLETTE, Wyo. – It came down to the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay, but the Wyoming Cowboys pulled out a thrilling win over Montana State in Saturday's Powder River Dual in Gillette, Wyo., at the Campbell County Recreation Center. The Cowboys avenged last year's loss with a 74-69 win, while the Cowgirls fell in a tight contest, 75.5-68.5.
 
"It's all about competition and both the men's and women's championships came down to the mile relay," said UW head coach Bryan Berryhill of Saturday's dual. "I think that prepares you well for the conference championships. We've never had it to where both the men's and women's duals come down to the mile relay. That's what exciting about it and that's what I think we're missing in our sport. For Montana State being willing to come up here, they're a good program. They've got some good athletes, some great competitors. I think we need a little bit more of this in our sport, and I think today, our kids got better just because they had to compete under pressure."
 
Junior Bryce Ailshie ran the anchor leg in the men's 4x400-meter relay that secured the win for the Cowboys after picking up a victory in the men's 800 meters earlier in the day. Ailshie clocked an adjusted time of 1:52.97 to win the 800, while the men's 4x400-meter relay team finished in 3:19.91 in the final event of the day. Jace Marx, who won both the men's 60 meters and 200 meters on Saturday, also competed on the Cowboys' 4x400-meter relay team. Marx clocked a time of 6.95 seconds in the 60 meters and an adjusted time of 21.88 seconds in the 200 meters.
 
In the women's 200 meters, Cowgirls Jerayah Davis and Jordan Edmonds finished 1-2 while both posting times in UW's all-time top five for the event. Davis' adjusted time of 24.39 seconds is No. 4 all-time, while Edmonds' adjusted time of 24.42 is good for fifth in Cowgirl history. The duo also went 1-2 in the women's 60 meter dash, as Davis won with a time of 7.55 while Edmonds was runner-up at 7.62.
 
The distance crew had a solid day for UW with multiple all-time top 10 marks. Senior Ricky Faure won the men's mile with an adjusted time of 4:06.66, good for No. 6 on the program's all-time list, while sophomore Michael Downey cracked the all-time top 10 list at No. 10 with a 4:07.96 time in a runner-up finish. Junior Emily Person clocked the No. 8 time on the UW all-time list for the women's 800 meters with a third-place finish at 2:13.25. Sophomore Kacey Doner turned in the No. 9 time on the UW all-time list for the women's 3,000 meters, clocking in at 9:56.56 for a third-place finish. Jonah Henry ran a strong final lap in the men's 3,000 meters to collect a victory in the event at 8:24.12.
 
Junior Ja'la Henderson conducted business as usual in the jumps, winning the women's long jump with a mark of 19 feet, 2 inches and emerging victorious in the women's triple jump at 39-0.5. Freshman William Nolan continued his brilliant debut season with a win in the men's triple jump and runner-up finish in the men's long jump. Nolan leapt 47 feet, 7.75 inches to win the triple jump by over three feet while he posted a mark of 22-6.5 in the long jump. Nolan wasn't the only Cowboy freshman to make an impact on Saturday, as fellow freshman McCade Johnson chopped some time off his collegiate personal best while winning the 60-meter hurdles in 8.31.
 
In the women's high jump, junior Sofia Hof posted a season-best mark of 5-4.25 to collect the victory, while Gillette native and freshman Marie Doherty finished third with a mark of 5-2.25. Wyoming swept the women's throws events, taking the top three places in each. Emelda Malm-Annan won the weight throw with a toss of 56-4.75, while Hannah Carr won the shot put with an indoor personal best toss of 46-2.  
 
All in all, the Cowboys won eight of 14 events while the Cowgirls triumphed in seven of 14 events at the Campbell County Recreation Center. Berryhill voiced his appreciation for the staff at the facility in Gillette following the meet. "Every year they do a great job. They're very welcoming, and they make it very easy for us. It's not easy hosting a meet offsite, but knowing and having faith that they're going to do everything they need to do to get the venue set up, it puts a little peace of mind there. We really appreciate what they do for us."
 
The Cowboys and Cowgirls will return to Boulder, Colo., on Feb. 2-3 for the next meet on their schedule, the CU Open. Stay tuned to @wyo_track on twitter for more information about the meet later this week.