Women's 1600 Relay, Olivier win Big Sky Titles

Wednesday, May 12

Ogden, Utah

University of Northern Colorado

Big Sky Championships

Photo by: Big Sky Conference

5/16/2021 9:46:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field, Track & Field

Results

UNC's had four podium performances at the Big Sky Championship

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

OGDEN, Utah – Two golds, a silver and a bronze, that's what Northern Colorado's track and field squad took home at the Big Sky Championship this weekend hosted by Weber State University.

Freshman Welre Olivier claimed gold in the triple jump while the women's 4x400 and 4x100 relay claimed first and second, respectively. Zion Smith earned third place in the women's 100m hurdles.

Olivier entered the Championships with the best mark in the conference on the year for the triple jump and held his ground with a winning jump of 15.60m (51' 2.25"). While it is not his top mark of the year he won the event by almost a whole foot. He also earned points for the Bears in the long jump. Olivier's leap of 7.22m (23' 8.25") took seventh place.

The meet ended in an exciting fashion for the Bears as the women's 1600 relay team of Mackenzie Petitt, Olivia Whitaker, Ruby Ann Gregory and Wendira Moss won the program's first championship in the event. The team crossed the line in 3:44.30, just .14 behind the school's record.

What what!?!? UNC BEARS WIN THE 4x400m RELAY!! 🥇🏆🥇 https://t.co/1YOrWtlEZk
— UNC Track&Field/XC (@UNC_BearsTFXC) May 16, 2021

Moss, Gregory, Whitaker and Dawniell Lewis made up the team's 4x100 team that finished in second with a time of 46.20.

VERY exciting Women's 4x100 💨

🥇 - @NAUTrackFieldXC
🥈 - @UNC_BearsTFXC
🥉 - @WeberStateTrack #ExperienceElevated x #BigSkyTF pic.twitter.com/Y7Tobs6Hbe
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) May 15, 2021

Sophomore Zion Smith was the final Bear to podium at the meet. She ran a 14.17 in the 100m hurdles to claim third place by .03 seconds ahead of teammate Andrea Stark.

On top of helping both relay team's podium, Moss had a pair of top 5 finishes individually at the Championships. The freshman took fourth in the 200m dash with a time of 24.26 and fifth in the 400m dash crossing the line in 55.38. Both marks were season bests for Moss.

Pettit and Gregory also scored points for UNC. Pettit claimed fifth in the high jump, jumping 1.68m (5' 6") and seventh in the 400m dash with a time of 57.00. Gregory qualified for the finals and took seventh in the 200m dash in 24.79.

Rounding out Northern Colorado's scoring on the track was the men's 4x400 team of DeMario Mootz, Steven Cross, Ibro Soumah and Jesse Hayward. The quartet finished sixth with a time of 3:17.53.

Tyler Thimsen, Alius Evans and Anya Turner wrapped up the scoring for UNC in the triple jump, pole vault and heptathlon, respectively.

Thimsen finished fifth in the triple jump with a leap of 14.87m (48' 9,5"). Alius Evans claimed fifth in the pole vault by clearing the bar at 4.46m (14' 1.75"). Anya Turner was the first Bear to earn points with 4445 points in the heptathlon to finish in eighth.

Overall, the program has 11 personal-best runs at the meet, setting the foundation for more to come with the young team.

As a team, the women finished ninth and men 10th.

What's Ahead
The Bears now await the NCAA Selection Show on May 20. Welre Olivier is set to be in the NCAA West Regionals currently sitting 19th on the NCAA Performance List for the triple jump. Teammates Tyler Thimsen and Mackenzie Pettit are currently on the bubble for the triple jump and heptathlon, respectively. Both sit in 45th place where 48 athletes make the regionals.

The NCAA West Regionals will be in College Station, Texas May 27-29.

To stay up to date on all things UNC track and field, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the new UNC Athletics app by clicking here.