ST. GEORGE — In the end, this one wasn’t close.
The Southern Utah University men’s track and field team literally ran away from the field and captured the Western Athletic Conference indoor championship title in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by an astounding margin of 71.5 points.
Racking up a 171-point total, the Thunderbirds outdistanced second-place Grand Canyon University, thus ending the Antelopes’ streak of seven consecutive conference crowns. Grand Canyon finished with 99.5 team points, as did co-runner-up UT Arlington.
Meanwhile, the SUU women made some noise of their own, finishing fifth with 57 points behind UTRGV, Utah Valley, UT Arlington and champion Grand Canyon.
“What an awesome conference championship for both men’s and women’s teams,” Thunderbird coach Eric House said in a news release. “Performances were beyond what I could’ve ever imagined. The athletes gave their best in every single event. Both teams will go down as some of the best teams I’ve ever been blessed to coach.”
SUU won five individual events during the Monday-Tuesday meet en route to the title.
#WACitf Men’s 3k Run Final
🥇 Travis Feeny | @SUUThunderbirds
🥈 Isaiah Labra | @SUUThunderbirds
🥉 Santiago Gaitan | @SUUThunderbirdsIt’s a Southern Utah sweep as Feeny wins the 3000 meter run in a time of 8:15.65!
📺 https://t.co/rcLpMA2Y5A#OneWAC pic.twitter.com/8yzymIJWrK
— The Western Athletic Conference (@WACsports) February 20, 2024
Isaiah Labra won the mile run with an official time of 4:00.25, breaking the 45-year-old meet record of 4:02.36. Adjusted for altitude, Labra’s time is the equivalent of 3:55.02 at sea level, according to officials.
SUU senior and reigning WAC Track Athlete of the Week Dylan Gibson won the 200-meter dash in 21.15 seconds on Tuesday after setting a school record (20.85) in the prelims.
In the 5,000 meters, Travis Feeny took the top spot with a time of 14:15.56. Coleman Cragun and Max Jones also finished strong in the event in fourth and sixth with times of 14:22.48 and 14:24.67, respectively.
Feeny also led the way in the 3,000 with a time of 8:03.45, putting him in sixth place all-time in the event at SUU. Labra and Santiago Gaitan followed close behind in second and third place with times of 8:05.00 and 8:11.73, giving the T-birds a podium sweep in the event.
Cedar English won the conference championship in the long jump with a distance of 25 feet, 0.50 inch also giving him a new indoor school record. Astley Davis took second place in the event with a jump of 24-3.75 and Levi Smith took fourth with a 23-9.50. These finishes would also give them second and fourth all-time in school history.
Thunderbird Men Win WAC Championship, Women Take Fifthhttps://t.co/C9yY4HTTwm
— SUU T&F/XC 🥇 (@SUUTFXC) February 21, 2024
SUU’s lone women’s conference title came from high jumper Ajia Hughes, whose leap of 5-10.75 also set a new indoor school record.
Madison DeBos improved her seventh-all-time mark in the mile run with a third-place finish and a time of 4:49.56. Savannah Nielson also improved her second-place spot in the 60-meter hurdles in school history with a time of 8.50 seconds, good for second place in the event.
In the 800 meters, Josii Johnson secured a second-place finish with a time of 2:10.43. And Makenna Skoczylas finished strong in the pole vault with a third-place finish and a jump of 12-4.75.
Utah Tech’s women’s team had success over the two days as well and the Trailblazers with a ninth-place team finish. They were led by sophomore Ashlyn Parish in the 60-meter hurdles. She finished fourth in the finals with a time of 8.64.
Junior Addi Wyatt finished fifth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:15.45, while the 4×400 meter relay team of Megan Jenkins, Whitney Christiansen, Kelly Denninghoff and Wyatt knocked more than three seconds off the previous program record in the 4×400-meter relay to take seventh in 3:50.66.
Rounding out the scoring on Tuesday, junior Lexi Larsen finished eighth in the mile registering a time of 5:03.12 after setting the program record (4:59.34) in the event on Monday in the prelims. She also anchored Utah Tech’s distance medley relay team, which included Mariah Skinner, Sadie Edwards and Savannah Eatough, to a sixth-place finish in 12:25.28. Freshman Averie Perriton came in seventh in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:25.74.
Here’s a final look at the 2024 WAC Indoor Track & Field Championship Team Scores presented by @herculestires!
Congratulations once again to @SUUTFXC and @GCU_TrackXC !#OneWAC x #WACitf pic.twitter.com/GucqV88y2q
— The Western Athletic Conference (@WACsports) February 21, 2024