Shot put, sprints, hurdles highlight day two of Air Force Invitational

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USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Colorado State senior and defending indoor national shot put champion Mostafa Hassan made his 2017-18 indoor debut with one of the NCAA's top shot put marks on Saturday at Air Force Invitational, while several CSU sprinters and hurdlers recorded season or personal bests. Competition was held at the Cadet Field House.

Hassan's top mark sailed 64-2 (19.55m), which was good enough to win the event by nearly six-and-a-half feet. That mark ranks fourth in the nation, 31st in the world and tops in the Mountain West. Finishing second at the meet was senior Austin Blaho, who hurled the shot put 57-9.5 (17.61m), while Alex Blaho took third with a mark of 56-9.75 (17.31m). Austin Blaho's mark ranks 12th on CSU's all-time indoor list. In women's shot put action, freshman Tarynn Sieg registered a personal-best mark of 47-4.75 (14.44m) to move to 12th on CSU's all-time indoor list.

On the track, CSU had personal bests in each of the women's and men's 60-meter hurdles on Saturday. Freshman Destinee Rocker clocked a personal-best 8.41 to place as the No. 2 collegian in the women's 60-meter hurdles, while senior Jalen Hunter posted a personal-best 7.93 to place as the No. 3 collegian on the men's side. Each of their marks rank third, respectively, on CSU's all-time indoor lists.

In the sprints, junior Marybeth Sant recorded a season-best 60 meters time of 7.43 to place second, while freshman Jasmine Chesson placed third in the women's 400 meters with a personal-best time of 55.93. Sant's time ranks fifth in her event on CSU's all-time indoor list, while Chesson's time ranks seventh in her respective event. On the men's side, Ronald Sayles claimed fourth place in the 200 meters with a time of 21.80.

Aliya Simpson matched her best indoor mark in the women's pole vault, clearing 12-5.5 (3.80m) to finish as the No. 4 collegian on Saturday. That mark is tied for the fifth-best on CSU's all-time indoor list. In the triple jump, Lindsay Read paced the Rams in the triple jump with a fifth-place finish and mark of 38-2.25 (11.64m), while Tarah Vijayasarathy leapt 37-5.25 (11.41m) for seventh place. Rounding out the top field events for CSU was the women's high jump, in which McKenzie Wright and Autumn Gardner each topped 5-8.75 (1.75m) for fourth and seventh place, respectively, based upon number of misses.

IN THEIR WORDS
Colorado State head coach Brian Bedard
On performances by CSU in the men's shot put:
"To go one-two-three with some pretty good competition there, that's always good. Austin Blaho had a lifetime best, so that was fun to see. Mostafa (Hassan) didn't throw great for him – he was pretty inconsistent – but we were looking for 19.5 to 20 meters as a starting point for him and he threw 19.55. We just need to get back to some consistent training and get him settled down after he traveled back from Egypt. The plan is to prepare to throw him at the CU Open and get him on track."

On the team's overall performance:
"I thought overall our team competed pretty well. I liked what I saw. The sprints and hurdles had a pretty good day. We have some good young people getting it done. We didn't contest the final events of the meet so that hurt us a bit in the team scoring, but I thought with who we brought down there we got some things done. We're going to really go after it at the CU Open. We'll rest them up a bit, bring our full squad up there and give it a go. It should be exciting."

NOTES
- Mostafa Hassan's shot put mark (64-2/19.55m) is surpassed by only one other shot putter in CSU history (65-8.75 by Magnus Lohse on Jan. 29, 2005).
- Hassan and Austin Blaho are now the top two ranked shot putters in the Mountain West. CSU also has three of the top four, as Alex Blaho ranks fourth in the conference.

UP NEXT
The Colorado State track & field team competes at the CU Open from Thursday, Feb. 1 through Saturday, Feb. 3, with multi-event action set for Thursday. All action is held from the CU Indoor Practice Facility, with the exception of the weight throw, which is held from the Balch Fieldhouse.

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