John Durgee

Cowboys & Cowgirls Eager to Hit the Track at the 2024 Mountain West Indoor Conference Championships

Track & Field 2/21/2024 3:01:00 PM

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The University of Wyoming Track & Field Teams are all set for the 2024 Mountain West Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships hosted in Albuquerque, N.M. The Cowboys and Cowgirls are primed for the meet after setting numerous school records and new top-10 marks this indoor season.

JUMPS

Kareem Mersal, Remar Pitter and Sadie McMullen headline the group of Long Jumpers heading to Albuquerque for the meet. Pitter started the season at the Power Meet in Laramie with a new school record in the event. Pitter's mark of 25-10.25 stood for a month before Mersal set the new standard and crossed the eight-meter mark for the first time in his career. That moved Mersal and Pitter to No. 1 & 2 in the Wyoming record books and ranked one-two in the conference since that day. McMullen went a career best 20-7.75 at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational just a couple of weeks ago. That moved McMullen up to No. 2 all time at UW and ranks No. 23 in the NCAA heading into this weekend. Hunter Brown also sits near the top of the conference ranked No. 7 in the event heading into the Championships.

Jefferson Danso and Kaliff Guevara rank No. 4 and 5 in the Triple Jump in the conference with Samuel Schneider ranked No. 5 in the High Jump with his top mark of 6-8.75 on the season.

From Associate Head Coach Quincy Howe, "I am excited to see what this group can produce after the diligent work they have put in since September. Its always a slow burn that culminates in the conference meet and all our preparations have been done with this meet in mind, the performances at this meet are the ones that are remembered so we want to be at the pinnacle of readiness this week."

THROWS

Daniel Reynolds has sat atop the Mountain West standings in the Weight Throw since the Power Meet. His top throw of 70-9.25 ranks No. 6 all time at Wyoming and No. 4 all time in the Mountain West. Reynolds also heads into the weekend ranked No. 5 in the Shot Put. Teammates Cam Burkett and Gage Griffith rank No. 4 and No. 8 respectively in the Shot Put along with him. Burkett's top mark of 58-3.25 is the No. 8 throw all time at Wyoming. Mary Carbee ranks fourth in the conference with her best toss of the season at 62-1, coming at the Air Force Linderman Classic.

From Assistant Coach Paul Barrett, "This indoor season the Throwing Crew have been very consistent with several solid UW Top 10 performances as to date. Recent training shows that they are all capable of Throwing Personal Bests at the Conference Championships if they step up and compete well."

SPRINTS

Jaymison Cox and Cody Hape lead the way for the sprints group in the Mountain West rankings heading into the meet. Cox, already the school leader in the 400M, moved up to the No. 5 spot on the 200M board this season for the Cowboys. Hape, a freshman, ran a 47.83 a couple of weeks ago at the Don Kirby to slot into No. 3 all time on the list. The duo ranks No. 6 & 7 in the event respectively. The Cowgirls 4x400 relay team of Gabby Drube, Paige Sefried, Jenae Ramirez and Taylor Weidinger moved into the No. 9 spot in the Wyoming record books putting together a time of 3:46.17 that has them ranked fifth in the conference.

From Assistant Ben Santos, "The sprints and hurdles group has a great set of experienced individuals who enjoy competing at every level. I'm excited to see how that diverse set of experiences may enhance that competitiveness in what is always a very tough meet. This is a close group. They are here to compete for one another, and they have demonstrated that quality day in and day out at practice and at meets. It will be fun to watch them go out there and fight for each other in such a high quality environment."

DISTANCE

Mason Norman set two new standards at Wyoming during the season. Norman posted a 7:58.35 in the 3000M at the Bobcat Challenge in Bozeman, Mont., and followed up that record-setting performance with a 13:52.29 in the 5000M at the 2024 Husky Classic. Norman ranks in the fifth spot in the Mountain West in both events. Ryker Holtzen sits right behind Norman in the 3000M running an 8:01.71 at the same meet in Bozeman. Freshman miler Salma Elbadra took down the Wyoming record in the event in her first race as a Cowgirl, then bested her own time a few weeks later at the Husky Classic running a 4:35.02 to finish sixth in a stacked field in Washington. Elbadra has sat atop the conference standings since running her time of 4:37.02 in her first race. Hailey Uhre ranks No. 6 in the conference in the 5000M as she moved up to the No. 2 spot on the Wyoming top-ten list.

From Head Cross Country Coach, "The conference meet boils down to putting yourself in the right position and competing, and we've been happy with how the crew has executed that this season."

TOP 8 MARKS IN MOUNTAIN WEST

COWBOYS

LONG JUMP | Kareem Mersal | 1 | 26-3.75 (NO. 6 IN NCAA)

WEIGHT THROW | Daniel Reynolds | 1 | 70-9.25 (NO. 28 IN NCAA)

LONG JUMP | Remar Pitter | 2 | 25-10.25 (NO. 12 IN NCAA)

SHOT PUT | Cam Burkett | 4 | 58-3.25

TRIPLE JUMP | Jefferson Danso | 4 | 47-11

TRIPLE JUMP | Kaliff Guevara | 5 | 47-9.25

5000M | Mason Norman | 5 | 13:52.29

3000M | Mason Norman | 5 | 7:58.35

SHOT PUT | Daniel Reynolds | 5 | 56-3

HIGH JUMP | Samuel Schneider | 5 | 6-8.75