BOZEMAN, Mont. — The Sacramento State men’s track and field team finished first at the 2007 Big Sky Conference Indoor Championships, securing the first team title in school history. The Hornets scored 107.5 points to edge Weber State (105.5) for first place. Northern Arizona was third with 101 points.
Sacramento State becomes the first school other than Idaho State, Northern Arizona or Weber State to win the Big Sky men’s indoor title since Boise State in 1994. Prior to this year’s meet, the Hornets had never finished higher than sixth at the league indoor meet.
“We had a near perfect meet,” Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Kathleen Raske said. “We talked last night and knew we had an opportunity to do something special. It was the most fun I have ever had in 18 years of coaching.”
The Hornet men were picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll. However, Sacramento State took the lead following the first day of competition with wins from David Nichols (shot put) and Raphael McFarlane (long jump).
On Saturday, the team kept its momentum with victories from junior Jody Johnson in both the 55 and the 200 and Daniel Imlach in the pole vault. Johnson, who is in his first season with the team, ran 6.36 seconds in the 55 and 21.76 in the 200. His 55-meter time was .02 seconds ahead of NAU’s Andre Nunis and .05 seconds better than McFarlane who placed third. In the 200, Johnson finished .04 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. He also became the first Hornet to win a pair of individual indoor titles at the same meet.
Imlach ran away with the pole vault competition. The junior, who was second last season, cleared 16-10.25 for his first Big Sky indoor title. His mark was just under 10 inches better than Levi Keller of Idaho State who placed second (16-00.50).
Junior Jeffrey Paneda also helped the cause by breaking the school record in the 800. Paneda ran 1:52.22 to place third. The previous school mark of 1:53.34 was held by Dustin Dowes in 2001.
Senior Chauncey Corbin capped his indoor career by scoring in four events for the team. Corbin finished fifth in the 55-meter dash (6.46), the 200 (22.04) and the 55-hurdles (7.83). He also anchored the 4x400 relay team which set the school record and finished second overall in 3:15.54. That team also included Jason Nelson, Stephone Paige and Jermaine Wilson.
In the heptathlon, junior Robert Brazier destroyed his own school record with 5,046 points to place fourth overall. Brazier ended the meet strongly, placing no worse than fifth in any of the three events on Saturday. The Elk Grove, Calif., native was fifth in the 55-hurdles, second in the pole vault and first in the 1,000-meter during the final day. He also set personal best marks in all seven events during the meet. Brazier previously held the school record with 4,781 points set earlier this season.
The Hornet men also received points from McFarlane in the 200 (6th/22.08), sophomore A.J. Reed in the 55-hurdles (3rd/7.67) and Jimmy Williamson in the pole vault (8th/15-06.50).
Sacramento State placed sixth overall in the women’s competition. Weber State won the team title with 108.5 points and was followed in the top four by Idaho State (107.5), Portland State (99.5), and Northern Arizona (94). Montana took fifth place with 77.5 points while the Hornets were 0.5 points behind. Montana State (67), Eastern Washington (22) and Northern Colorado (10) completed the field.
The 77 points were the most recorded by a Hornet women’s team since joining the Big Sky in 1997. The previous high of 64 came in 2005.
Senior Nancy Searcy, junior Lori Vaught and the women’s 4x400 relay team each finished first on Saturday. Searcy, who won the long jump on Friday, ran 7.83 seconds to win the 55-hurdles. That time gave Searcy an NCAA provisional mark and also broke her own school record. Searcy also moved into second place on the all-time Big Sky indoor list, trailing only Nsa Henshaw of Weber State who ran 7.81 in 1998.
Searcy also placed third in the 55-meter dash and finished the meet with 26 points — the most ever by a Sacramento State woman.
Vaught matched the school record and set a PR with a triple jump of 40-02.75 for her first Big Sky victory. Her mark was nearly six inches longer than Portland State’s Nkeiru Ugwoaba who was second (39-07.00).
Henley-Henderson also did her part in the individual races, placing third in the 400 (56.67) and seventh in the 200 (25.48). Freshman Ericka Viollett added to the team total with a fifth-place finish in the 55-hurdles (8.38).
BOZEMAN, Mont. —
