FORT WORTH, Texas -- In their quest for an 11th straight outdoor league title, the BYU men's track team got off to a fast start during the first two days of competition at the 2008 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The men's team swept the decathlon with junior Justin Palmer finishing with a score of 7,054 points. Teammate Chase Dalton finished right behind with 6,982, and freshman Jordan Calderwood's 6,650 points was good enough for third.
Dalton, Calderwood and Palmer took turns winning four of the five events Wednesday. Calderwood, a freshman from Reston, Va., started the competition with a victory in the 100-meters. His time of 11.05 was .07 seconds faster than Palmer, who finished second. Dalton finished fourth with a time of 11.18 seconds. One of the pre-event favorites, Kevin Johnson from Colorado State, injured a hamstring after the first 30 meters and was unable to finish the race.
Palmer claimed the long jump title with a mark of 22-06 1/2 . Calderwood finished second and Dalton finished fourth. Palmer won the shot put to pick up his second individual victory in as many events, recording a distance of 43-03 1/4. Dalton finished second with a distance of 39-05 1/4 and Calderwood was sixth with a mark of 36-04 1/4.
In his best event, Dalton, a native of Tigard, Ore., cleared 6-07 to win the high jump, while Palmer finished second with a clearance of 6-02 1/4. Calderwood finished fourth after clearing the six-foot mark.
In the 400, Calderwood finished third in a time of 50.81 seconds, Dalton turned in a time of 50.95 to finish fourth and Palmer took sixth.
On the second day of competition BYU men continued to dominate the decathlon.
In the men's 110-meter hurdles, Calderwood took second place and Palmer took third.
Palmer also went on to take first in the discus throw, with a throw of 132-11. Dalton placed second with a throw of (117-00).
Palmer then took second in the pole vault (13-11.25) and the javelin (185-060). Dalton took the number one spot in the javelin with a throw of 198-07.
In the hammer throw, the final event of the day, Leif Arrhenius, a sophomore, took second with a throw of 198-02.
"I thought Chase [Dalton] really had a great day," coach Mark Robison said. "Overall, I think we're in good shape, and I'm very pleased with how things went today."
On the women's side, freshman Chelsi Petersen finished the first day of competition in fifth place in the heptathlon with a total of 3,039 points.
Petersen started the day with a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.04, before finishing with eighth in the high jump and a seventh-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 33-03.75. Back on the track for the fourth and final event of the day, Petersen finished third in the 200 meters with a time of 24.91 seconds.
On the second day of competition, Petersen finished sixth in the long jump. In the javelin throw, She took seventh with a throw of 97-04, and finished up the day placing eighth in the 400-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 29.64 seconds. After two days, Petersen placed seventh in the heptathlon.
Despite thunderstorm and tornado warnings throughout the Metroplex area, competitors in the decathlon and heptathlon have enjoyed a rain-free competition.
"We'll take it," Robison said. "We were extremely lucky to have a good day at the track. If we can get through this meet without any rain falling on us, we'll be extremely lucky, considering all the bad weather around us."
Copyright Brigham Young University 16 May 2008
