SPOKANE, Washington – Utah Valley University's
Everlyn Kemboi and
Habtamu Cheney both capped banner weekends at the 2023 WAC Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday by each earning the Outstanding Track Performer of the two-day event.
Both runners brought home gold in the 3,000; Kemboi set a new course record while defending her title from last season and also won the top track performer award for the second straight season. Cheney won his race in dramatic fashion, overtaking the leader in the final stretch to earn the win.
"The WAC is a very good, competitive conference. I think it's one of the top four conferences in the country. It's been pretty impressive to watch what's happened over the past couple of years. The depth of the conference and the effort our kids put in were impressive," said UVU head coach
Scott Houle. "I'm happy with how we came to compete, and we know what work needs to be put in to take that next step. I'm excited for what we did this weekend and now we get ready for the outdoor season."
Kemboi's finish came in 9:21.33 while
Mazzie Melaney Preston also finished ahead of the previous meet record and was third overall with a time of 9:34.42. Both runners were coming off big showings in the 5,000 on Friday, with the duo first and second and both beating the prior meet record. Kemboi's time in Friday's 5k of 16:00.32 also established the new WAC mark.
Madison Flippence, who was also fourth in the 5,000, was fourth in Saturday's 3k with a time of 9:44.49.
Cheney's win came a day after he went wire-to-wire to win the men's 5k. After taking an early lead in Saturday's 3k, Cheney ran the final 200 in 29.310 and surpassed Southern Utah's Isaiah Labra just moments before crossing the finish line. Also scoring for the Wolverines in the 3k were
Joel Mendez (8:21.73),
Kale Sharp (8:24.19), and
Max Mahon (8:25.80), who finished sixth through eighth.
Both Kemboi and Cheney also shared the High Point Award winners. Kemboi shared that honor with Jhana Downie of New Mexico State and Cheney won on the men's side along with Grand Canyon's Jordan Okyere.
As a team, Utah Valley's men finished fourth with Grand Canyon winning the title. On the women's side, the Wolverines finished fifth with Stephen F. Austin capturing the team championship. The women had with 81.5 points, with just 1.5 points separating second through fifth. The men also were just six points behind SUU for third with SFA just one point in front of the T-Birds in second.
Also on Saturday,
Quincy Bonds broke her own school record in the 60-meter hurdles for the second straight day. She hit 8.59 in Friday's prelims and capped the championships with a time of 8.55 while taking fifth in the finals. In the women's 400, school record holder
Larissa Dabb (56.26) finished fourth and
Ella Hopper (56.38) was fifth. Hopper's time was a personal best and moved her up to fourth in the school's top 10.
Aiden Garnett finished just shy of his second WAC title in the high jump, finishing second with his best jump of 2.11 meters. The Wolverines had four points-scorers in the event, with
Jeffrey Duvinston (2.08),
Carter Cook (2.05m) and
Seth Krauss (2.02m) finishing fourth through sixth for 20 team points in the high jump.
Both
Isaac Manning and
Neal Berkey moved up the heptathlon standings, with Manning finishing third and Berkey fourth. Berkey was first in the high jump (5.00m) and third in the 1,000 (2:51.54) in the final two events on Saturday.
Other notable finishes include
Austin Hone's fourth-place time of 4:08.09 in the mile while
Aaron Johnson, who captured another WAC title in the long jump on Friday, took fifth in the 60.
Kallie Given, despite being limited due to injury all season, finished sixth in the high jump, hitting 1.68m (5-06.00).
2023 WAC Men's ITF Championship Team Scores
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
| 1. |
Grand Canyon |
139.5 |
| 2. |
Stephen F. Austin |
100 |
| 3. |
Southern Utah |
99 |
| 4. |
Utah Valley |
93 |
| 5. |
UT Arlington |
72.5 |
| 6. |
Abilene Christian |
68 |
| 7. |
Tarleton |
54 |
| 8. |
Sam Houston |
21 |
| 9. |
Seattle U |
10 |
| 10. |
UTRGV |
5 |
2023 WAC Women's ITF Championship Team Scores
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
| 1. |
Stephen F. Austin |
99.5 |
| 2. |
NM State |
83 |
|
Sam Houston |
83 |
| 4. |
Grand Canyon |
82 |
| 5. |
Utah Valley |
81.5 |
| 6. |
Abilene Christian |
59 |
|
Southern Utah |
59 |
| 8. |
UT Arlington |
47 |
| 9. |
UTRGV |
37 |
| 10. |
Tarleton |
21 |
| 11. |
Seattle U |
6 |
| 12. |
Utah Tech |
4 |
2023 WAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Individual Awards
WAC Men's Outstanding Track Performer: Habtamu Cheney, Utah Valley
WAC Women's Outstanding Track Performer: Everlyn Kemboi, Utah Valley
WAC Men's Outstanding Field Performers: Astley Davis, Southern Utah, Jordan Okyere, Grand Canyon
WAC Women's Outstanding Field Performer: Michelle Ogbemudia, Stephen F. Austin
WAC Men's Freshman of the Year: Astley Davis, Southern Utah
WAC Women's Freshman of the Year: Jade Johnson, Sam Houston
WAC Men's High Point Award: Habtamu Cheney, Utah Valley, Jordan Okyere, Grand Canyon
WAC Women's High Point Award: Jhana Downie, NM State,
Everlyn Kemboi, Utah Valley
WAC Men's Coach of the Year: Tom Flood, Grand Canyon
WAC Women's Coach of the Year: Robert Hansen, Stephen F. Austin
