Analysis After 3 Days of MW Men's Track

Boise State came in with a fairly good chance of winning the men's title.  But they didn't enter an athlete despite having Adam Ruggerio as one of the tops in the conference and lost valuable points there.  The Broncos started the running events in pretty good shape, and were not expected to score huge in field events, which is a marked change from when Coach Mike Maynard led the program.

But Boise State lost a lot of points in the steeplechase.  The Broncos are the biggest losers to this point, down 16 points from projections, while Wyoming is down 12.  Everyone else is benefiting from Boise State and Wyoming's poor performances:  New Mexico has gained 31 points and now is a co-favorite along with Air Force.  The Falcons have gained 18 points while Colorado State is up 22 from projections.

Boise State is now in serious danger of finishing next to last.

Wiles 4th in Steeplechase

Zach was the pre-meet favorite with a time of 8:54.

Event 6  Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase
=======================================================================      
MWC All-Time: C 8:29.24  2009        Kyle Perry, BYU                         
    MWC Meet: M 8:53.12  2007        Rob Watson, Colorado St.                
     Stadium: S 8:59.61                                                      
    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points      
=======================================================================      
Finals                                                                       
  1 Elmar Engholm             FR New Mexico             8:59.16S  10         
  2 Andrew Goodman            SO Colorado St.           9:04.04    8         
  3 Spenser Lynass            SR Colorado St.           9:05.77    6         
  4 Zach Wiles                JR Boise State            9:10.12    5         
  5 Christian Meyer           JR Colorado St.           9:11.95    4         
  6 Kevin Poythress           JR Fresno State           9:20.16    3         
  7 Nick Lobb                 FR Boise State            9:25.46    2         
  8 Michael Banks             SR Wyoming                9:26.37    1         
  9 Graham Thomas             FR New Mexico             9:55.86              
 10 Mike Seas                 FR Wyoming               10:05.05  

Boise State Scores 3 Points in 10,000

Big Blow to Boise State, which was expected to get 12 points here.

Event 8  Men 10000 Meter Run
=======================================================================      
MWC All-Time: C 27:55.86  2007        Josh Rohatinsky, BYU                   
    MWC Meet: M 30:01.96  2004        Ben Payne, Air Force                   
     Stadium: S 29:29.90                                                     
    Name                    Year School                  Finals  Points      
=======================================================================      
Finals                                                                       
  1 Luke Caldwell             JR New Mexico            30:27.71   10         
  2 Jeremy Drenckhahn         SR Air Force             30:29.96    8         
  3 Matt Bell                 SR Air Force             30:30.70    6         
  4 Patrick Zacharias         SO New Mexico            30:39.52    5         
  5 Andrew Lesser             SR Colorado St.          31:06.41    4         
  6 Barak Watson              SR Boise State           31:12.53    3         
  7 Jacob Morgan              FR Colorado St.          31:26.21    2         
  8 Ben Larson                JR Colorado St.          31:28.50    1         
  9 Daniel Vartanian          SR Fresno State          31:32.31              
 10 Aaron Back                FR Boise State           31:50.37              
 11 Petrus Malherbe           SO New Mexico            32:08.49              
 12 Amos Bowen                JR Wyoming               32:43.11              
 13 Nick Ekel                 SR Wyoming               32:47.51       

Men's MWC Outdoor Track Championship Standings after 7 Events

Boise State still trying to dig out from the hole they dug by not fielding a decathlete:

  1) Air Force                   78   

  2) Colorado St.               74    
  3) New Mexico                  54  

  4) Wyoming                    31    
  5) Boise State                 15   

  5) Fresno State               15    

Bronco Women with no Points in Pole Vault

They're stuck at 21 points as a team.

Bronco Women With Zero Points in Javelin

Here are the standings in MWC Outdoor Track after five events;

    1) San Diego St.               43     

   2) Colorado St.               37   

    3) New Mexico                  30  

      4) Boise State                21    
    5) Fresno State                16   

     6) Air Force                  14    
    7) Wyoming                     13    

    8) Nevada                     11    
    9) UNLV                        10                                 

Broncos Come Up Empty in Discus

That decathlon, where Boise State lost 6-8 points and gave it to Colorado State and Air Force by not entering anyone, is really looking like it's going to be hard to make up.

                   Men - Team Rankings - 6 Events Scored                  
=================================================================================
    1) Colorado St.                70        2) Air Force                  62    
    3) New Mexico                  51        4) Wyoming                    21    
    5) Fresno State                14        6) Boise State                10    

Three More Men Qualifiers

Boise State setting themselves up nicely for a run at the title:

Preliminaries                                                                
  1 Daveon Collins            JR Boise State              20.65Q  4.1  2     
  2 Cameron Parker            SR Fresno State             21.45Q  2.0  1     
  3 Jake Spuller              SO Air Force                21.48q  4.1  2     
  4 Uzor Udensi               SR Air Force                21.52q  2.0  1     
  5 Jason Roascio             SO Wyoming                  21.60q  2.0  1     
  6 Thomas Trujillo           SR New Mexico               21.67q  2.0  1     
  7 Devante O'Connor          FR Fresno State             21.76q  2.0  1     
  8 Jeff Daw                  SR Boise State              22.27q  4.1  2     
  9 Tyler June                SR Boise State              22.40q  4.1  2     
 10 Harrison Einspahr         FR Wyoming                  23.00   2.0  1 

Comparing Bronco Men with Bronco Women Like Night and Day

Three Bronco men are in the 400-Meter Hurdles final--excellent chance to pick up badly-needed points.

Preliminaries                                                                
  1 Jordin Andrade            JR Boise State              51.21Q  1          
  2 Trevor Brown              JR Colorado St.             53.35Q  2          
  3 Sam Little                FR Colorado St.             52.41q  1          
  4 Bret Scheve               SO Boise State              53.65q  2          
  5 Keane Bland               FR Fresno State             53.74q  2          
  6 Rex Stanley               FR Boise State              53.79q  2          
  7 Colin Herold              SO Wyoming                  54.12q  1          
  8 Sam Lynass                SO Colorado St.             54.43q  2          
  9 Aaron Praska              JR Wyoming                  54.53q  1          
 10 Daniel Williford          JR Fresno State             54.61   1 

No Bronco Qualifiers in Women's 800

For the women, sadly it's going to be about individual glory--no chance at a team title.

No Bronco Qualifers in Women's 400

Pretty much expected, but it's still disappointing.

Bronco Women Hurdlers Need Work

The heats in the women's 100-meter hurdles are done and none of the eight places in the final will be taken by a Bronco.

Clemson Wins 4-3

Pogostkin won the first set 6-2 and it looked good for Boise State.  But when Sereke fell, it meant Pogostkin had to win his match.  He lost the second set 6-3, and suffered three breaks in the final set to lose 6-1.

Bettles Wins 6-4, 6-1

We're tied at 3.

Pogostkin Down 5-1

He had two break points but lost the game, leaving unfinished business for the next two Madden serves.

Yannick madden Takes Time Out at Triple Break Point

Trying to stall so he doesn't lose before his brother beats Pogostkin.

Triple Match Point for Bettles

30-40 for Pogostkin on Court 4 trying to get a desperately needed break.

Bettles Suffers Break

Up 5-1.  he needs to finish this.

Bettles Up 5-0

Serving for match.  It would be nice if he can at least finish to tie the match at 3-3 before Pogostkin's finale.  He's down 15-40 though.

Sears Loses 6-4, 6-4

So now Pogostkin has to get two quick breaks.  You see now how damaging the Sereke loss was.

Pogostkin Loses Another Break

and Boise State is in trouble.  He's down 4-0 in third set and Sears is down 40-15 and facing match point.

Bettles With Another Break

Andy leads 4-0 in second set, playing tremendous tennis.

Boise State-Clemson Recap

Clemson won the doubles point, in fact too easily.

Garrett Patton evened the match with a 6-4, 6-4 win at #6 singles.

Nathan Sereke was down a break, got it back late, then lost his serve to lose 6-4, 7-5 at #2 singles.  But seconds after that, Thomas Tenreiro won 7-5, 6-2 at #5 singles.

And we're tied at 2.

Scott Sears was headed for defeat, in fact the announcers were almost sure of it, but he got two breaks and trails, 6-4, 5-4.  Bettles leads 3-0 at #1 singles, but Pogostkin just lost a break in his crucial third set.  Filipp won the first set 6-2, but lost 6-3 in the second and now down 2-0. If Pogo loses, Sears and Bettles both have to win.  By the same token, if Scott can't hold on to even the match, Pogostkin has to come back and Bettles has to win his match.

Sears With Consecutive Breaks

Scotty wasn't playing well until just now, and he has gotten two straight breaks in the second set.  He trails 5-4 but if he can hold serve, he's back in the match.

Tenreiro Wins Again

7-5, 6-2, so the match is even at 2.  With Sereke's loss, he has now forced Bettles to win against a higher-ranked opponent.

Sereke Loses

After just battling back to even, Sereke lost his next serve and the match, 6-4, 7-5.  Clemson leads 2-1.  This is a tough, tough loss for Boise State.

Pogostkin Loses Second Set 6-3

And down 1-0 in final set.

Tenreiro with another break

He's up 5-1 in second set.

Bettles Gets Break

Unbelievably, Bettles is up 6-4, 2-0.

Sears is about to lose, down 5-1 in second set.  Tenreiro up 3-1 at #5 singles, while Sereke has pulled even at 5 in the second set.

Pogostkin Serving to Stave Off Set Loss

He's down 5-3 in second set, but he did win the first one.

Patton Wins

6-4, 6-4.  The announcers keep trying to go to video matches where Clemson can win.  They refused to show Patton until the final point, and kept saying, Clemson looks like they're going to be up 3-0.

Clemson has 2 breaks to 1

Patton leads 6-4, 5-4 but he needs to break to win.  He is receiving at 15-40.

Clemson leads 2 breaks to 1.  Boise State won four of the six first sets, but Clemson won the doubles point.

Sereke Gets the Break

The Southern announcers, who not only can't pronounce Pogostkin's name, can't figure out if Boise State is in the WAC or the Mountain West.  They're getting input from Clemson fans as to how the Tigers can take the match.  

Sears Down 6-4, 4-0

Scott having a tough day, and so far Clemson is winning four of the six second sets.  They only need 3 to win the match.

Pogostkin Loses Break

He won the first set 6-4, but is down 4-2 in the second.  Obviously one Boise State has to have.

Sereke Down 5-2

Nathan serving to stay in the match, and if he can hold serve, he needs to get the break right away, of course.

Tenreiro Gets Break

Thomas is up 7-5, 2-0 at #5 singles.

Southern Announcers

The cooler it gets, the more it favors Boise State.  They're 2,800 feet above sea level, and they're probably not used to playing in warm weather.

The ignorance we have to deal with.  All they need to know about Boise is that it's in the middle of a desert up against the mountains.  Or maybe come here before they make comments.

Bettles Wins First Set

6-4, giving Boise State four first sets.

Bettles Gets Break at Singles

It would be a gigantic upset if Bettles won, and it's very early, but the first break at #1 singles goes to Andy--he's up 5-4 and serving.

Men's Steeple Final

Boise State got some points here, but they made a tactical error in not entering anyone in the decathlon.  They have to fight way uphill to take the title.  It's a possibility, but they're already so far behind.

Here are the standings because of that tactical mistake, and you see what I mean.

1.  Colorado State 53
2.  New Mexico 25
3.  Air Force 19
4.  Boise State 10
5.  Fresno State 3
Wyoming 1

Finals                                                                       
  1 Elmar Engholm             FR New Mexico             8:59.16S  10         
  2 Andrew Goodman            SO Colorado St.           9:04.04    8         
  3 Spenser Lynass            SR Colorado St.           9:05.77    6         
  4 Zach Wiles                JR Boise State            9:10.12    5         
  5 Christian Meyer           JR Colorado St.           9:11.95    4         
  6 Kevin Poythress           JR Fresno State           9:20.16    3         
  7 Nick Lobb                 FR Boise State            9:25.46    2         
  8 Michael Banks             SR Wyoming                9:26.37    1         
  9 Graham Thomas             FR New Mexico             9:55.86              
 10 Mike Seas                 FR Wyoming               10:05.05        

Tenreiro Wins 7-5

A lot going on today involving Boise State and this is your source for the most complete and up-to-date information.

Thomas Tenreiro won his first set 7-5 at #5 singles.  Three Broncos have won first sets but they need four singles winners.

Who's going to step up?

Emma Bates Wins Gold with School Record in 10,000

Two races and two Broncos cross the line first.  Emma Bates won the grueling 10,000 today and Erin McLaughlin picked up another point for the Lady Broncos at the MWC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Finals                                                                       
  1 Emma Bates                SO Boise State           36:09.92S  10         
  2 Shawna Winnegar           SR New Mexico            36:18.15S   8         
  3 Holly Page                SO Wyoming               36:53.19S   6         
  4 Sarah Heuer               SR Colorado St.          37:07.83S   5         
  5 Kendra Schaaf             SR New Mexico            37:14.57S   4         
  6 Kate Kanetzky             SR Air Force             38:05.01    3         
  7 Julie Pedersen            JR Nevada                38:14.98    2         
  8 Erin McLaughlin           JR Boise State           38:22.89    1         
  9 Kristen Galvez            JR Fresno State          38:52.93              
 10 Devon England             JR Wyoming               39:30.31              
 11 Pauline Mandel            FR Colorado St.          39:53.37              
 12 Marianne Hogan            SR San Diego St.         39:53.50      

Marissa VanderMalle Wins Mountain West Championship with School Record

Congrats to this great distance runner.  Marissa won the steeplechase this morning by 13 seconds to take the MWC title!

Finals                                                                       
  1 Marissa VanderMalle       SO Boise State           10:25.24S  10         
  2 Jennifer Bremser          SR Air Force             10:38.53    8         
  3 Demerey Kirsch            SO Nevada                10:40.55    6         
  4 Imogen Ainsworth          SR New Mexico            10:42.64    5         
  5 Kaitlin Hanenburg         JR Colorado St.          10:59.85    4         
  6 Nicola Hood               JR New Mexico            11:00.47    3         
  7 Carina Mendoza            JR Fresno State          11:05.16    2         
  8 Abi Bever                 SR Wyoming               11:09.73    1         
  9 Christina Works           SR Nevada                11:14.39              
 10 Anna Preciado             SO Boise State           11:20.56              
 11 Erika Root                FR Nevada                11:33.78              
 12 Emily Myers               FR Nevada                11:44.54              
 -- Andrea Klimowski          JR Wyoming                    DNF     

Sears Suffers a Break

And he's down 6-4, 2-0.

Sereke Loses a Break

Nathan pretty much has to win this match, or at least one of the top three need to,.  Bettles is playing one of the best in the nation, so you don't want to have to put it on his shoulders.  Sereke's down 6-4 and 2-0 now.

Southern Cooking

Bettles just had a ball go wide, and he called it so, which would have evened the match at 4 games apiece.  But the referee overruled him, and it's back to deuce.

Patton and Pogostkin Win First Sets in Singles

Garrett won 6-4 at #6 singles while Pogostkin won 6-4 at #4 singles.

But Sereke was a 6-4 victim in the first set, a match he needs to win for the Broncos to get out alive, especially having lost the doubles point.  And Scott Sears lost his set 6-4 at #3 singles.

Thomas Tenreiro is up 6-5 at #5 singles--he hasn't lost in months.  Bettles is behind 4-3 at #1 singles, one in which he is the underdog.

So the singles matches are tied at 2-2, but Boise State needs to win 4 of the 6.

Clemson Wins Doubles Point

and it wasn't close.

Aidan Reid and Toby Mitchell lost 8-1 at #3 doubles and Garrett Patton and Scott Sears lost 8-4.  That's not how they played against Notre Dame, ranked higher than Clemson.