This is because one year a snowstorm prevented a San Diego State football team from leaving Cheyenne for kickoff in Laramie.

Benson, you see, has been the commissioner of the WAC since 1994 but is the league's fifth boss all time. The ban happened under Paul Brechler, who was replaced in 1969 by Wiles Hallock, who gave way to Stan Bates (1971) who was replaced by Joe Kearney, who retired in 1994.

None of those WAC commissioners presided over a track championship in Laramie.

Since the MWC was organized 10 years ago, Laramie never received a site for league championship.

Until this week.

This is a good thing for UW. It is only fair to grant Wyoming a chance to host a championship, even if predecessors kept a pact alive to keep it out of town for almost half a century.

"The same thing happened in the Big Sky," said Blaisdell. "We had a championship in Flagstaff one year, hosted by Northern Arizona. At that elevation, it was terrible and everyone decided we'd never hold it there again.

"But what happens is people leave and are replaced. Those who were there at the time move on and new faces sit around a table and decide. We did go back to Flagstaff."

That's what happened with the MWC. Folks in a committee, sitting around a table, decided it was time to return to Laramie. None were likely there in 1968.

"We are very excited to have the opportunity to host this great tournament and compete in front of our home crowd," Wyoming head coach Don Yentes announced earlier this week.

"We have hosted meets here before and they have run extremely well and this one will be no exception. This university has not hosted any type of championship since the MWC started 10 years ago, and it will be a great opportunity to show off what a great town and community this is."

By all reports, things have gone without a hitch this week. Events conclude today at the Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex.

I did notice a line in BYU's sports information dispatch from Wednesday's competition in the heptathlon and decathlon.

Almost always, when reporting on an outdoor sport, this office offers a weather report, especially if the weather is questionable. Usually this meteorology update appears in the first paragraph.

This one read: LARAMIE, Wyo. (May 13, 2009) — Despite battling heavy winds, the BYU combined event athletes got the Cougars off to a strong start on Wednesday at the Mountain West Conference Track and Field Championships.

And from the third paragraph, right before we learn that the Cougars' Amy Menlove set a Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex record of 13.60 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, we have this partial quote from BYU head women's coach Craig Poole: "It's been windy and chilly."

Well, at least there is no report of snow.

e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com