The Weber State University track and field team ran, jumped and threw their way to dominance in meets on April 7–8. Despite the wet spring weather, Weber State sprinter Alex Reece sprinted to a gold model in two outstanding races in the 100 and 200 meters. Reece broke school records in both events at the Spring Classic.
Reece first ran the 100-meter dash, posting a time of 10.21, which broke the record previously set by Wiley King at 10.35 in 2004. In the second race, Reece ran in the 200-meter dash and posted a time of 20.79. With this time, he snagged another record, previously set be Chanson Memmott in 1998 at 20.86.
“I specifically tried to focus on executing each phase of my races properly and not letting the conditions of the weather affect my performance,” Reece said about his record breaking performance. “Getting into the blocks before each race, I would tell myself, ‘We do this every day at practice. There’s no reason today should be any different.’”
Reece transferred from Baylor University and is a senior at Weber State.
“Coach Tiffany Hogan has done a wonderful job working with him,” Weber State Director of Track and Field Dan Walker said. “I took a chance on him, and it seems to be working out.”
Reece’s times both set the mark for fastest times in the Big Sky Conference for the season. His 100-meter dash time sits is the seventh fastest in the NCAA Western Qualifying and the 200-meter dash time is 13th in the West Region.
The Wildcats also had stand-out performances in many other events over the weekend.
“A whole bunch of kids who are not our top-level performers continue to improve, getting into the conversation about scoring at the conference championships,” Walker said.
Senior distance runner Ellie Child ran in the 1,500-meter race on Saturday and posted a time of 4:33.57. Child’s time is the second-best time of the year in the Big Sky Conference.
Senior distance runner Jamie Stokes participated in her first race since 2016. She ran the 800 meters and posted a time of 2:12.54, putting her time in the top sixth in the Big Sky Conference.
Freshman distance runners Dallin Leatham and Tracen Warnick finished the 1,500 meters with a second and third place finish respectively, with times 3:55.45 and 3:5.12.
Sophomore hurdler Joey Czellecz took the top spot in the 400 and 110 meter hurdles over the weekend, as well, with times of 53.21 and 14.48, respectively.
Senior thrower Natasha Powell threw 47 feet, 1 3/4 inches in the shot put to win the event. In the hammer throw, she finished in the top three, throwing 167 feet, 5 inches.
Sophomore thrower Terrell Womack also brought home a gold for the Wildcats, with a discus throw of 137 feet, three inches.
The Weber State track and field team will compete again on April 14–15. They will be sending most of the team to Logan, Utah, for the Mark Faldmo Invitational, and a few of the athletes will travel to Walnut, California, for the Mt. Sac Relays.
