CLOVIS, Calif. – Cowgirl junior Ja'la Henderson defended her indoor triple jump conference title on Saturday at the 2018 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Championships, breaking her own UW women's outdoor record in the event once again to win gold. The Cowgirls took 11^th place as the MW outdoor championships concluded Saturday night in Clovis, Calif., while the Cowboys placed fifth.
 
Henderson leapt 43 feet, 10.5 inches to top her own school record by two inches. She won the conference title by over a foot on Saturday, her third career gold medal at the conference level. Henderson's crown is the first outdoor triple jump title for a Cowgirl in 30 years, as Nicole Stancato won the league title in 1988 when the Cowgirls competed in the High Country Athletic Conference. William Nolan continued his incredible freshman campaign by adding a runner-up finish in the men's triple jump on Saturday, leaping 48-9.5 to crush his outdoor personal best.
 
Senior Hannah Carr ended her conference career with a bang, providing another highlight in the field events with a fifth-place finish in the women's discus. Carr's mark of 162-7 is a personal best and No. 6 on the UW all-time list.
 
Freshman Brandon McGuire exploded for a breakthrough performance in the men's 400-meter hurdles on Saturday, earning eight points for the Cowboys with a runner-up finish at 52.65 seconds. McGuire finished a half-second back of Air Force's Chip White, while his time is just three hundredths of a second off the No. 10 time on the UW all-time list. Junior Ariana Williams continued her breakthrough season in the hurdles, moving up from an eighth-place qualifying performance on Friday to take fourth in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday at 14.03.
 
Junior Bryce Ailshie and senior Kerry White produced matching sixth-place finishes in the men's and women's 800 meters, respectively, on Saturday. Ailshie clocked in at 1:50.82, while White finished in 2:11.16.
 
Juniors Jace Marx and Jackson Wood added two third-place finishes for the Cowboy sprints squad on Saturday. Marx checked in at 10.76 seconds to take third in the men's 100 meters, while Wood took third in the men's 400 meters at 47.49. Meanwhile, junior Jerayah Davis took sixth in the women's 100 meters at 11.74.
 
The Cowboy and Cowgirl 4x100-meter relay squads each took fourth place on Saturday, with the men clocking in at 41.45 while the Cowgirls crossed the finish line in 45.70. The Cowgirl team of Davis, Jordan Edmonds, Henderson and Melina Harris posted the No. 6 time on the UW all-time list for the event. The Cowboys also took fourth in the 4x400-meter relay, the meet finale, checking in at 3:15.16.
 
The Cowboys finished with 81.5 team points, taking fifth place and matching their team score from the 2017 MW outdoor championships. Meanwhile, the Cowgirls recorded 44 points for 11^th place. Next, the Pokes will await the finalization of the national descending order lists for each event and the announcement of corresponding births to the NCAA West Preliminary Round. The meet will be held May 24-26 in Sacramento, Calif., hosted by Sacramento State University. Stay tuned to GoWyo.com and @wyo_track on twitter for updates.