NMSU's Rebecca Green dominates field to win shot put at CUSA Championships
New Mexico State's Rebecca Green has been one of the nation's best shot putters all outdoor season, so there was no surprise when the senior dominated the field Thursday to claim the Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
What was surprising is that it was her first-ever outdoor title. The Los Alamos native's four years in Las Cruces have been defined by a steady rise. She was third last spring in what was then her best conference finish before turning a corner in the past year and winning the CUSA indoor championship.
More: Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships live results, heat sheets
Her first outdoor title was as straightforward as it was supposed to be. Coming in ranked 34th nationally, and well ahead of the rest of the CUSA field, she threw 54-feet, 3 3/4-inches, on her first toss to win by five and a half feet. All five of her legal throws would have won easily.
"This means everything," said Green, who will compete in her first regional meet in two weeks. "I'm happy I had the opportunity to be out here with all these girls (her teammates) one last time.
"I was hoping for a little more but I'm only three centimeters (an inch and a quarter) off my pr (personal best) so I'm good with it."
Her best coming into this year was 49-11 and five foot improvements at this stage of a career are rare.
"I'm not sure," Green said when asked what led to this kind of a surge. "I worked hard over the summer, something finally clicked, it's my third year of spinning. Something clicked and I've been up since then."
100 times blazing
A combination of an aiding altitude and reliable tailwinds combine to make Kidd Field a fast sprinter's track, and after the 100 preliminaries Thursday night, "everyone is going to want to come here," UTEP coach Mika Laaksonen said.
The men's 100 was truly remarkable, perhaps the fastest prelims in the nation, as five runners ran massively wind-aided times from 10.09 seconds (that included UTEP's Xavier Butler) to 11.11. By comparison, 10.13 was third place in qualifying at Thursday's SEC meet, and the SEC is a better track conference than it is a football conference.
Western Kentucky's Rodney Heath Jr. also ran a 10.09, Liberty's Omari Lewis ran 10.10, and Sam Houston's Tyriq Brunn and Louisiana Tech's Quoi Lewis ran 10.11. The final is set for 7:05 p.m. Sunday.
On the women's side, UTEP's Neisha Burgher ran a wind-aided 11.01 that ranks as the sixth fastest all-conditions time in the NCAA women's 100 this year.
Liberty throwers roll
The collegiate track regular season is about chasing marks and times to solidify a spot in the postseason.
That start of that postseason is the conference meet, and there is only one main goal there: get as many points as possible, hopefully enough to lift a team to a title.
Liberty shot putter Warren Barrett and Liberty javelin thrower Ben Shughart are among the best in the nation at their respective events, they came in as heavy favorites and they achieved what they set out to do with routine victories.
"It wasn't the best day but I got the points my team needed," said Barrett, who had the four best throws of the competition and eventually won in 58-3 - more than three feet off his best but two feet better than anyone else. "That's all I came here for. In two weeks regionals, I'm looking forward to that."
Shughart's best throw of 224-6 was close to his season's best of 226-9 and it was enough to win by a mammoth 40 feet.
"The first throw felt good, after that it went downhill but that's all right, I got it done," he said. "The last meet wasn't great so it feels good to get one out there again."
Liberty came in as a solid favorite, in both men's and women's, and were second with 42 points after five of 21 men's events (Sam Houston led with 48).
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: NMSU's Rebecca Green dominates shot put field at CUSA Championships
