Senior Nellie Hammons wrapped up one of the most dominant indoor track seasons in the history of the U last weekend with a gold medal in the 800 meter run at the Mountain West Conference Championships.
In a conference with three squads ranked in the top 15 nationally, Hammons completed an amazing undefeated season in the 800.
Results for the rest of the squad were not quite as good, but the women’s team did set a school record for total points scored at an indoor conference championship with 67-good enough for a fifth place overall finish. BYU swept both the men’s and women’s team titles scoring 223 points, followed by San Diego State (129 points) and Colorado State (103 points).
Going into the meet, Utah head coach Lisa Archer was confident that the Utes would set a team record for points, but she was hoping for individual titles in up to four events. With Hammons as the only first-place finisher, a few Ute hopefuls were left wondering what they could have done better.
Senior Katie Decker, who holds the seventh-best high-jump mark in the entire country, finished third, with a jump of 1.7 meters in an event that she had dominated throughout the year. Decker won the high jump at last year’s MWC championships, and with wins in the last two events preceding this year’s MWC championships, she was considered one of the favorites to win the event.
All in all, the meet was considered by Archer as a success. The Utes had several key performances from some of the younger athletes on the squad, giving the coaches hope for an even brighter future.
“This was one of Utah’s strongest showings ever at a conference meet,” Archer said. “Some of our most impressive performances were from young athletes.”
“With such great young athletes, our team should continue to improve for the future,” Archer added.
On the men’s side, the Utes finished last in a field of six schools.
With a highly undermanned staff, the men’s team’s top accomplishment at the conference championships was senior Nephi Tyler’s fifth-place finish in the 1-mile run with a time of 4 minutes, 16.54 seconds.