ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A number of high finishes in the field events and qualifications to Saturday's track event finals highlighted Wyoming's second day at the 2018 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Junior Ja'la Henderson posted her third consecutive top-three indoor conference finish in the women's long jump, while UW had top-six finishers in the men's and women's weight throws and qualified athletes to Saturday's finals in nearly every preliminary race on Friday. With one day remaining, the Cowboys are fifth in the men's standings with 13 points while the Cowgirls are ninth on the women's side with 16 points.
 
"I think we did advance some athletes in events where maybe we weren't expecting to," UW head coach Bryan Berryhill said Friday evening. "Now they've got a chance tomorrow to go out there and score points for the team. There definitely were some good things. For the most part, we got kids through (to the finals). We'll look for good performances tomorrow."
 
Henderson posted a mark of 19 feet, 8.75 inches, just two inches shy of victory, to match her third-place finish from last season's indoor conference meet. She was not the only Cowgirl to earn points for Wyoming in the event, however, as fellow junior Jerayah Davis posted a season-best mark of 19-5.5 to take fifth place overall. In the men's long jump, freshman William Nolan used a personal-best mark of 23-7.5 to take fourth place and notch six points for the Cowboys. Henderson and Nolan will each compete in the triple jump on Saturday. 
 
"William (Nolan) was here two weeks ago and didn't jump very well in this venue, so to see him come back with confidence today was really good," Berryhill said. "He had a great jump."
 
Sophomore weight thrower Hap Frketich offered another top-five field event finish for the Cowboys, demolishing his personal best mark with a toss of 60-1.25 to take fourth overall and earn five points for Wyoming. Emelda Malm-Annan took sixth in the women's weight throw, tossing a season-best 58-6 and earning three points for the Cowgirls.
 
Davis, meanwhile, offered more than just a top-five finish in the long jump on Friday. She also clocked the second-fastest time of her career in the preliminary round of the women's 60 meters, checking in at 7.27 seconds for the second-fastest time in the prelims. She will compete in the final of the women's 60 meters on Saturday.
 
Sophomore Sam Kirkeide qualified on the men's side of the 60 meters, clocking 7.01 to take sixth in the prelims. Fellow sophomore Jackson Wood earned another qualification for the Cowboy sprints squad, taking fifth in the prelims of the men's 400 meters with a time of 48.55.
 
Freshman and Laramie native McCade Johnson had one of the day's most impressive performances for Wyoming, clocking the No. 9 time on the UW all-time list, 8.27, for the men's 60-meter hurdles. Johnson finished fifth in Friday's prelims and advances to Saturday's final after his career-best performance. Senior Heidi Pfoor qualified to the finals of the women's 60-meter hurdles, recording a personal-best time of 8.75 to finish eighth in the prelims.
 
UW had one qualifier each in the men's and women's 800 meters, as senior Ricky Faure advanced on the men's side while senior Kerry White qualified in the women's race. Faure recorded the third-best time in Friday's preliminary race, clocking an altitude-adjusted time of 1:52.08 to advance. White was fifth in the women's prelims, posting an altitude-adjusted time of 2:12.12. Senior Lauren Hamilton advanced to the finals of the women's mile, clocking a converted 4:54.51 in the preliminary race on Friday.
 
The men's shot put and men's high jump will begin the final day of the 2018 MW indoor championships on Saturday, with each event set for 10 a.m. MT. The women's mile final will be the first track event at 12 p.m., while the men's 4x400-meter relay, set for 2:45 p.m., is the last scheduled track event. Watch Saturday's action unfold live or follow live results at the links above, and visit @wyo_track on twitter for more coverage as the Pokes finish competition at the conference meet.