LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Utah Valley men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up the final day of the 2018 Western Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships with eight individual titles Saturday at Rock Chalk Park.
 
Junior Savannah Neuberger helped the Wolverines lay hold upon two the program's first-ever sweep of the the women's 800-meter  (2:17.28) and 1,500-meter (4:51.15) races in the same championship meet. Neuberger's latest pieces of hardware followed up her showing during the indoor season in which she claimed the individual 800 and mile championships.

"Savannah ran a great race," said Utah Valley head coach Scott Houle. "She went out there and show how tough she is in those races. I couldn't be more proud and I'm looking forward to having her return for next season."
 
Leading things off for the men's squad, sophomore Albert MacArthur captured UVU's first-ever WAC individual triple jump with his second school record of the meet. With his new personal record, MacArthur's performance (15.91 meters) surpassed his own previous top UVU mark by .46 meters and bested the NCAA West qualifying region's 12th-ranked jump on the season.
 
Senior Daven Russell guided UVU in the throws with his second career outdoor title in the shot put, as his 17.68-meter throw beat out the nearest competitor by 1.6 meters. Adding to the success in the throws, senior Chelsey Stegelmeier's persona record on her final career throw gave her second in the women's hammer and Darcy Allen finished second in the women's discus.
 
UVU's distance events freshmen Hannah Branch and Anthony Ocegueda took after their veteran distance teammate in Neuberger, snatching their own pair of WAC titles in the women's and men's distance runs. Branch became the league champion for the first time in the women's 5,000-meter race (17:31.64) and Ocegueda paired his outdoor 1,500-meter title (3:59.39) with his previous first career championship in the mile during the indoor season.
 
Freshman Kallie Given capped the Wolverines' list of freshmen earning championship hardware. Given won the women's high jump with a 1.68-meter leap to give UVU its second individual championship across the jumping events throughout the weekend.
 
Adding to the slew of conference medals, senior Lexi Shaw took home her first career WAC gold medal in women's 400-meter hurdles (1:00.96). Shaw's 400-hurdles victory marked the second consecutive season a Wolverine won the event, following 2017 400-hurdles WAC Champion in senior teammate Mykah Ouderkirk who finished second (1:02.43) in this year's finals.
 
With their five individual championships and several All-WAC efforts, UVU's women (205 points) finished second overall in the team standings. After entering the day in third place, their final point total sat just within 19 points of champion Grand Canyon (224.5 points). With the day's efforts, the Wolverines' men's team followed suit in second place with 170 points behind a GCU squad completed the sweep of the team championships this weekend. The Wolverines  ended the WAC Outdoor Championships with a total of eight individual champions across 11 events.
 
A former WAC champion in the women's 1,500-meter, senior Shevaun Ames closed out her career with a silver medal in in the 1,500 after she stepped across the finish line moments after her Wolverine teammate Neuberger. Also ending her UVU career on a high note in the sprints, senior Alena Gillespie ended her stint as two-time WAC 200-meter dash champion with a second-place finish (23.79) in the 200 finals in the conference meet finale.
 
In the men's 400 hurdles, sophomore Adrian Jones tacked on another second-place finish for UVU with best performance of the year in that event. The sophomore hurdle specialist grabbed his league silver medal with a season-best time of 20.52 seconds.
 
Joining Branch on the podium, seniors McKayla Walker (17:38.44) and Savannah Berry (17:40.54) each put forth top-five efforts in their strong last 5,000-meter races. Berry placed third and Walker took fourth, giving duo a combined four All-WAC performances among them for the weekend.

"All of our seniors are going to leave a pretty good legacy behind and leave a lot of things they've taught to our younger kids as mentors. They'll be sorely missed, but they have done a good job of preparing the rest of our athletes to take over," said Houle.
 
Putting the icing on the list of top-three finishes for the Wolverines on the final day of competition at the WAC-hosted meet, sophomore Kevin Lynch and junior Jordan Carder each posted top-three finishes in their evening races. Carder's placed third in the 100 (10.40) and second in the 200 (21.05) with season-best marks. In the later men's 5,000-meter race Lynch took third (15:06.33) to claim the WAC bronze in just his second 5K race of the outdoor season.
 
During the final event of the night, the Wolverines' women's 4x400 squad almost pulled off another championship comeback after winning the WAC title during the indoor season in come-from-behind fashion. Shaw anchored the quartet, consisting also of Gillespie, Ouderkirk and junior Ashley Zulauf, to a new school record by making up ground on the final leg to cross the finish line in second (3:43.96) within only .42 seconds of 4x400 champion New Mexico State (3:43.54).
 
The Wolverines will now await to see which athletes will make the cut for the NCAA   West Preliminary competition set to be announced Thursday, May 17. UVU currently projects to land five athletes on that list, as that group sits inside the top-48 slots across six events on the NCAA's West region qualifying list.

WAC Champions
Adrian Jones, 3,000m steeplechase
Albert MacArthur, Triple Jump
Daven Russell, Shot Put
Anthony Ocegueda, 1,500m
Savannah Neuberger, 800m & 1,500m
Lexi Shaw, 400-hurdles
Kallie Given, High Jump