Kaymarie Jones
The Paw Print
A small group of Adams State University’s track team traveled to the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday January 7th and 8th for the annual New Mexico Classics hosted by the University of New Mexico.
The Lady Grizzlies showed great light on day one when senior, Chelsea Fenderson, raced to 26.68 seconds in the 200 meters on the bank. She returned on Saturday to run 8.04 seconds in the 60 meters. Freshman, Jenna Thurman, competed for the Grizzlies in the women’s 800 meter run and clocked 2:25.11. Alyssa Selve led the Grizzlies in 5:05.24 in the 1 mile run. Selve finished fourth with Thurman clocking 5:13.46 for seventh and Tayler Warren finished at 5:19.74 for twelfth. Jamaican freshman, Serena Canegan, completed her two days of competition in the 6o meter hurdles at 9.77 seconds. Canegan had competed in the long jump and shot put a day earlier.
Alamosa town girl, Katie Kruger, represented ASU in the women’s shot put. She completed the event with a throw of 13.99 meters and 13.98 meters in the weight throw. Former ASU volleyball player, Mickaela Hoelsken, got into the groove of things in the women’s weight throw. Hoelsken dropped the weight at 15.64 meters and placed fifth overall. Her teammate, Morgan Darden, threw a distance of 14.20 meters for eleventh.
Sprint power house, Chaz Butler, fired an incredible 6.80 seconds in the final of the men’s 60 meter dash. Butler, who has a season best of 6.77 seconds, sits fifth in the nation and number one in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). ASU jumper, Carlton Lavong, and the Surinam native, Jurgen Themen, continue to improve over that same distance. Lavong ran 6.94 and Themen finished in 7.00. Their teammate, Parker Jones, should be a great prospect for the future of the Grizzlies. He raced his way to a 7.06 finish after learning that the starter did not call back a clear false start.
Themen and junior, Derek Brown, crossed the 200 meter finish line at 22.33 and 22.37 respectively. Charles Miller and freshman, Dustin Lamar, finished in 22.93 and 22.97. Hurdler, Tyler Zito, stopped the clock at 23.40 seconds. In the men’s mile, Brady Selner finished thirteenth in 4:30.86 seconds. Aaron Williams and Zito made it to the Section B finals in the 60 meter high hurdles, clocking 8.39 seconds and 8.62 seconds respectively. Freshman, Jones, missed the Section A’ finals by one spot when he clocked 8.32 seconds in the prelims. In the men’s high jump, Justin Bethea cleared 2.08 meters for tenth. Lavong continues to jump consistently at 7.65 meters in the long jump and 15.37 meters in the triple jump. His older brother, Wesley Lavong, threw 18.55 meters in the shot put and 17.45 meters in the weight throw. Zach Baxter and Jonathan Millar marked the shot at 16.54 meters and 15.54 meters. Senior, Joe Hochanadel, competed in the weight throw and finished seventh with a distance of 17.11 meters
This weekend, the Grizzlies will host the NCAA Qualifier on Saturday in the High Altitude Training Center Indoor Bubble. A fraction of the team will fly to Seattle, Washington, for the 2014 Husky Classics on February 14th and 15th.
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