UVSC track teams 4th at championships

OREM — The Utah Valley State track and field team wrapped up its season last weekend at the Division I Independent Championships in Davis, Calif., with three athletes setting meet records to go with fourth-place finishes in the team standings on both the men's and women's sides.

UVSC senior Kari Snow-Tupou broke her own meet record in the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Zach Cook set a new meet mark in the men's long jump and South African strongman Gavin Shaw nailed down an unprecedented win in the hammer throw.

As a team, the Wolverines finished in fourth place in fields that featured 12 men's contingents and 10 women's squads.

"Going into the meet, we expected to finish where we did," Utah Valley head coach Scott Houle said. "We didn't do as well as I think we should have in some areas and we did better than I expected in others. As a whole, I think it was a good meet for us."

Snow-Tupou ran the 100-meter hurdles in 14.31 seconds, besting the mark she posted in 2005 by 0.17 seconds. She also finished fourth in the 100 meters and ran on the UVSC 4x100 relay team, which placed second.

Cook leapt 24 feet 1.75 inches to notch a new meet record in the long jump. In addition, Cook scored points with a second-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, fourth place in the 110 hurdles and a leg on the 4x400 relay team that took third.

The hammer flew 196 feet 5 inches after it left Shaw's grasp, beating the nearest competitor by almost 7 feet and setting a new meet record by approximately 2 feet.

Less than an hour after winning the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:56.46, UVSC senior Kirsten Barney got back on the track and turned in a gutsy performance in the 1,500 meters, finishing 10th in a 12-runner field.

Mariama Salifu and Chris Fogt, the sprinting tandem that has each won several events for the Wolverines this season, competed in spite of difficulties with their hamstrings. Salifu took second and third in the women's 100 and 200, respectively, and Fogt finished second in both the men's 100- and 200-meter sprints.

SOFTBALL: Utah Valley (23-29) finished its season last Tuesday with a 6-3 home loss to BYU.

Last Thursday, designated player Heidi Boyer was named to the District 8 All-Academic First Team, the first time such a distinction has ever been bestowed on a UVSC athlete. Boyer, a math education major who holds a 3.72 GPA, led the team with a .389 average, 11 home runs and 41 RBI.

BASEBALL: The Wolverines (22-27) will host the Division I Independent Championships beginning Wednesday and running through May 26.

UVSC plays North Dakota State, 7 p.m. Wednesday; New Jersey Tech, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24; New York Tech, 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 25; and Chicago State, 4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 26.