ALBUQUERQUE -- Despite windy conditions at the 2003 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Curtis Pugsley, a junior from Park Valley, Utah, won the decathlon title on Thursday, outdistancing teammate Devin Scoresby by 293 points. Anna-Lee Walcott finished a respectable third place in the heptathlon, scoring 5,206 point in her first full competition since recovering from reconstructive knee surgery.
"The wind played a big factor in today's competition," Pugsley said. "I was looking to not only win, but do well enough in some other events to qualify for regionals. But with the conditions out there today, it just didn't happen. Overall, I'm excited we were able to pick up some points to help the team."
Pugsley started the day off with a first-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles (15.02), then added 610 more points to his total with a victory in the discus. Despite being unable to see, due to dust that had kicked up because of the wind and collected in his contact lenses, Pugsley claimed a winning throw of 122-04.
In the pole vault, Pugsley cleared a height of 14-01.25 for a second-place finish, but said he was capable of vaulting higher. Again, the wind played a factor.
"I normally enter the pole vault around 15 feet," he said. "But the wind was blowing me all over the runway, so I came in at 14-01. The wind was so gusty, I just wasn't able to clear anything higher."
Pugsley, who slightly injured his shoulder in the pole vault, recorded a mark of 166-01 in the javelin to finish third place in the event.
With the competition all but wrapped up, Pugsley coasted in the 1,500 meters, turning in a time of 5:27.44 to register 412 points and capture the overall decathlon title. Pugsley defeated Scoresby, who finished second, by 293 points.
Scoresby also struggled with wind conditions during the second day of competition, however maintained second place throughout the day. Scoresby, a native of Idaho Falls, Idaho, finished second in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:56.96 to record 579 points. Entering the final event, Scoresby knew Air Force's Nick Herald would go all out to narrow the gap and push for a second-place overall finish. However, despite a gutsy performance by Herald, who won the event with a time of 4:42.96, Scoresby held on to second place, beating Herald by 102 total points for second place.
"I feel bad for Devin," head men's coach Mark Robison said. "He was hoping to come in here and qualify for regionals, but it just didn't go that way. He did a nice job, but the wind played too big of a factor today.
"Overall, Curtis and Devin finished right where we thought they would, and we are very pleased with all three performances."
Junior Erik Rasmussen, who entered the pole vault in eighth place overall, registered a height of 16-08.75 to pick up 941 points and vault in to fifth place. Rasmussen's performance would put him in contention to pick up valuable team points with competitive performances in the remaining two events. Rasmussen finished sixth overall, recording 6,319 points in his first decathlon in over five years.
"We were so pleased with Erik's performance," Robison said. "With less than two days to train for 10 different events, we are thrilled to see him do so well."
The Cougars, who scored 21 team points with a first-, second- and sixth-place finish in the decathlon, lead second-place New Mexico by 12 points in the team competition. Air Force is in third with seven points, followed by Colorado State with two points.
In women's competition, San Diego State's Leslie Miller won the heptathlon for the second straight season, recording 5,602 points.
Walcott entered the day in second place, but took a 23-point lead after the long jump, recording a winning mark of 19-10.25. In the javelin, the Trinidad native got off a throw of over 120 feet, but fouled after crossing the launch line. Suffering from torn ligaments in her throwing elbow, Walcott was unable to duplicate her first attempt and was forced to settle for a mark of 103-04--good for a fourth-place finish. She scored only 505 points in the event and surrendered the lead to Miller, who scored 742 points with a personal-best, and wind-aided, 144-foot throw. Shanon Meyer also passed Walcott with a throw of 139-03 to garner 714 points.
In the final event, Walcott held her third-place finish with a time of 2:33.15 in the 800-meters, while Miller and Meyer added to their respective leads with a one, two finish in the event.
"Anna-Lee did a wonderful job," head women's coach Craig Poole said. "She was a few points off from her personal best in the decathlon. Given the weather conditions, and her injury, her gutsy performance is nothing to complain about. We are very pleased with how she performed over the two-days.
"What makes her third-place finish even better is the fact no one expected her to do so well. Her performance is worth six team points no one expected us to get."
In overall team scoring, San Diego State picked up 21 points in the heptathlon to take the team lead, followed by BYU with 6 points, and New Mexico with five points. Utah is in fourth place with four points, followed by Colorado State with three points after two days of competition.
The 2003 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships will kick in to high gear on Friday with finals in several field events, and preliminary events in many of the running events. Action is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. (MDT) at The Friends of University of New Mexico Track Stadium in Albuquerque.
Final Scores--Curtis Pugsley, BYU, 7110; Devin Scoresby, BYU, 6817; Nick Hearld,
Air Force, 6715; Mark Johnson, New Mexico, 6525; Ryan Voge, New Mexico, 6448;
Erik Ramussen, BYU, 6319; Matt Webber, CSU, 6235; Justin Ballinger, Air Force,
6082; Bret Zowada, Wyoming, 5940; Dan Feltman, New Mexico, 5912; Robert Gunn,
New Mexico, 5669.
Event 41 Decathlon: #6 Men 110 Meter Hurdles Decathlon
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Name Year School Finals Wind H# Points
===============================================================================
1 Curtis Pugsley JR BYU 15.02 5.5 1 847
2 Mark Johnson JR New Mexico 15.51 4.5 3 789
2 Devin Scoresby JR BYU 15.51 4.5 3 789
4 Nick Herald JR Air Force 15.67 4.5 3 770
5 Matt Webber SR Colorado St. 15.70 6.6 2 767
6 Justin Ballinger SR Air Force 15.76 5.5 1 760
7 Bret Zowada SO Wyoming 16.23 6.6 2 707
8 Dan Feltman FR New Mexico 16.40 6.6 2 688
9 Ryan Voge SO New Mexico 16.46 5.5 1 682
10 Erik Rasmussen JR BYU 16.62 6.6 2 665
11 Robert Gunn FR New Mexico 16.91 4.5 3 634
Event 41 Decathlon: #7 Men Discus Throw Decathlon
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Name Year School Finals Points
=================================================================================
1 Curtis Pugsley JR BYU 37.29m 122-04 610
2 Matt Webber SR Colorado St. 36.80m 120-09 600
3 Justin Ballinger SR Air Force 34.94m 114-07 562
4 Nick Herald JR Air Force 34.61m 113-06 556
5 Devin Scoresby JR BYU 34.55m 113-04 555
6 Mark Johnson JR New Mexico 33.90m 111-03 542
7 Erik Rasmussen JR BYU 30.76m 100-11 479
8 Ryan Voge SO New Mexico 30.30m 99-05 470
9 Bret Zowada SO Wyoming 29.39m 96-05 452
10 Robert Gunn FR New Mexico 19.60m 64-04 265
-- Dan Feltman FR New Mexico FOUL
Event 41 Decathlon: #8 Men Pole Vault Decathlon
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Name Year School Finals Points
=================================================================================
1 Erik Rasmussen JR BYU 5.10m 16-08.75 941
2 Curtis Pugsley JR BYU 4.30m 14-01.25 702
3 Nick Herald JR Air Force 4.20m 13-09.25 673
3 Mark Johnson JR New Mexico 4.20m 13-09.25 673
5 Ryan Voge SO New Mexico 3.90m 12-09.50 590
5 Matt Webber SR Colorado St. 3.90m 12-09.50 590
7 Dan Feltman FR New Mexico 3.80m 12-05.50 562
7 Devin Scoresby JR BYU 3.80m 12-05.50 562
9 Bret Zowada SO Wyoming 3.60m 11-09.75 509
10 Justin Ballinger SR Air Force 3.50m 11-05.75 482
11 Robert Gunn FR New Mexico 3.40m 11-01.75 457
Event 41 Decathlon: #9 Men Javelin Throw Decathlon
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Name Year School Finals Points
=================================================================================
1 Dan Feltman FR New Mexico 54.04m 177-03 649
2 Justin Ballinger SR Air Force 51.74m 169-09 614
3 Curtis Pugsley JR BYU 50.63m 166-01 598
4 Matt Webber SR Colorado St. 46.86m 153-09 542
5 Nick Herald JR Air Force 46.03m 151-00 530
6 Robert Gunn FR New Mexico 45.80m 150-03 527
7 Ryan Voge SO New Mexico 45.55m 149-05 523
8 Bret Zowada SO Wyoming 44.09m 144-08 502
9 Devin Scoresby JR BYU 44.05m 144-06 501
10 Erik Rasmussen JR BYU 42.65m 139-11 481
11 Mark Johnson JR New Mexico 41.65m 136-08 466
Event 41 Decathlon: #10 Men 1500 Meter Run Decathlon
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Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
1 Nick Herald JR Air Force 4:42.96 662
2 Devin Scoresby JR BYU 4:56.73 579
3 Ryan Voge SO New Mexico 5:07.63 517
4 Mark Johnson JR New Mexico 5:14.05 482
5 Bret Zowada SO Wyoming 5:21.29 443
6 Matt Webber SR Colorado St. 5:24.34 428
7 Curtis Pugsley JR BYU 5:27.44 412
8 Justin Ballinger SR Air Force 5:31.47 392
9 Erik Rasmussen JR BYU 5:43.69 334
10 Robert Gunn FR New Mexico 5:47.79 316
11 Dan Feltman FR New Mexico 5:50.84 303
Men - Team Rankings - 1 Events Scored
===============================================================================
1) BYU 21 2) New Mexico 9
3) Air Force 7 4) Colorado St. 2
Women Scores--Leslie Miller, SDSU, 5602; Shanon Meyer, SDSU, 5481; Anna-Lee
Walcott, BYU, 5206; Keren Bentzuer, New Mexico, 5170; Kristy Slade, Utah, 4953;
Zuzana Krajci, CSU, 4423; Alisha Lasswell, SDSU, 4364; Nicole Carmier,
SDSU, 4229; Amber Nolte, New Mexico, 3840; Melissa Laycock, Wyoming, 3813;
Suzanne Nguyen, New Mexico, 3682.
Event 42 Heptathlon: #5 Women Long Jump Heptathlon
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Name Year School Finals Wind Points
======================================================================================
1 Anna-Lee Walcott SR BYU 6.05m 8.5 19-10.25 865
2 Keren Bentzur SR New Mexico 5.95m 8.2 19-06.25 834
3 Shanon Meyer FR SDSU 5.75m 4.1 18-10.50 774
4 Kristy Slade SR Utah 5.70m 6.9 18-08.50 759
5 Leslie Miller SR SDSU 5.69m 5.8 18-08.00 756
6 Nicole Carmier FR SDSU 5.32m 7.8 17-05.50 648
7 Zuzana Krajciova JR Colorado St. 5.30m 5.6 17-04.75 643
8 Amber Nolte SO New Mexico 5.11m 9.7 16-09.25 589
9 Alisha Lasswell SO SDSU 5.09m 6.3 16-08.50 584
10 Melissa Laycock JR Wyoming 4.90m 9.9 16-01.00 532
11 Suzanne Nguyen FR New Mexico 4.80m 8.8 15-09.00 506
Event 42 Heptathlon: #6 Women Javelin Throw Heptathlon
=================================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=================================================================================
1 Leslie Miller SR SDSU 43.90m 144-00 742
2 Shanon Meyer FR SDSU 42.44m 139-03 714
3 Kristy Slade SR Utah 32.62m 107-00 526
4 Anna-Lee Walcott SR BYU 31.50m 103-04 505
5 Keren Bentzur SR New Mexico 30.85m 101-02 493
6 Zuzana Krajciova JR Colorado St. 24.54m 80-06 374
7 Alisha Lasswell SO SDSU 23.59m 77-05 356
8 Suzanne Nguyen FR New Mexico 23.26m 76-04 350
9 Melissa Laycock JR Wyoming 19.29m 63-03 276
10 Amber Nolte SO New Mexico 16.61m 54-06 226
11 Nicole Carmier FR SDSU 15.27m 50-01 202
Event 42 Heptathlon: #7 Women 800 Meter Run Heptathlon
=======================================================================
Name Year School Finals Points
=======================================================================
1 Leslie Miller SR SDSU 2:19.09 836
2 Shanon Meyer FR SDSU 2:20.81 813
3 Nicole Carmier FR SDSU 2:21.55 803
4 Zuzana Krajciova JR Colorado St. 2:22.70 787
5 Alisha Lasswell SO SDSU 2:23.16 781
6 Keren Bentzur SR New Mexico 2:29.67 697
7 Anna-Lee Walcott SR BYU 2:33.15 654
8 Kristy Slade SR Utah 2:33.69 647
9 Melissa Laycock JR Wyoming 2:34.39 639
10 Amber Nolte SO New Mexico 2:43.69 531
11 Suzanne Nguyen FR New Mexico 2:48.01 484
Women - Team Rankings - 1 Events Scored
===============================================================================
1) SDSU 21 2) BYU 6
3) New Mexico 5 4) Utah 4
5) Colorado St. 3