Feb. 25, 2016
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - San José State University women's track and field athlete Jade Childs recorded a third-place finish in the pentathlon with a school record 3,712 points to help the Spartans finish tied for sixth, after day one in the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Childs, participating in her first indoor Mountain West Track & Field Championships, smashed her previous school record of 3,491 points by recording an indoor personal-best in the 800-meters and seasonal-bests in the 60-meter hurdles and the long jump.
"I'm really proud of what Jade did today. I couldn't be any more proud of her. She looked really strong from the get go and I'm really excited that she got third. After placing fifth in last year's outdoor championships where she had a difficult meet, to come back and get top three in this stacked conference is a real accomplishment," said Spartans track and field head coach, Jeff Petersmeyer.
The Spartans had two entries on the day, with Childs and freshman Kolbi Sims both competing in the five event pentathlon which included, in order, the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800-meters.
Childs got off to a fast start, literally, by running the 60m hurdles in a seasonal-best 8.71 seconds, only three-one hundredths of a second off her personal best. The seasonal-best time was good for second place as it gave the Meridian, Idaho native, 984 points, 13 points behind the first event leader Kassidy Ellis of San Diego State who ran it in 8.65 seconds.
Sims ran the 60m hurdles in 9.49 seconds, placing her in 14th place after the first event, at 810 points.
In the second event, the high jump, both Spartan athletes cleared 1.62 meters (5 feet, 3 ¾ inches) to score 759 points. This dropped Childs to third place with 1,730 points and Sims climbed up to 12th place with 1,569 points.
Nicole Wadden of Nevada, who recorded the best mark in the high jump at 1.80 meters (5 feet, 10 ¾ inches) took the overall lead after two events at 1,922 points.
In the shot put, Childs' best toss of 11.15m (36 feet, 7 inches) came on her first attempt. It helped her remain in third place overall with 2,335 points, losing ground by only six points to Wadden who continued to remain atop the overall standings with 2,533 points.
Sims tossed 9.56m (31 feet, 4 ½ inches) in her second attempt to collect 501 points. The Eagle, Idaho native, dropped one spot in the overall standings to 13th place with 2,070 points after three events.
In the long jump, Childs leaped a seasonal best 5.70m (18 feet, 8 ½ inches) which was the second best jump of the event, behind San Diego State's Ellis' mark of 5.81m (19 feet, ¾ inches). It helped the junior gain 68 points on Wadden, who continued to stay atop the standings with 3,224 points to Childs' 3,094 points.
Sims jumped 4.97m (16 feet, 3 ¾ inches), which dropped her to 14th place with 2,621 points.
The 800-meter was the last event of the pentathlon inside the Albuquerque Convention Center where freshman Sims ran it in 2:45.46, finishing the championship in 16th place.
"It's a tough conference to be a freshman. Kolbi didn't have her best day but she'll be back. She'll be ready to come back tomorrow with the jumps," said Petersmeyer.
Childs concluded the pentathon by running an indoor personal-best, 2:36.13.
"Jade kept the momentum going from her strong start in the hurdles and she had to run a good 800 to stay in third place and she did just that," said Petersmeyer.
Day two of the championship meet on Friday will be a full slate with prelims for the sprints, distance and field events taking place.
Real-time scoring and results, along with post-race interviews, event highlights and photo galleries from the 2016 MW Indoor Track & Field Championships, which runs through Saturday, February 27, will be available on the Championship Central page of TheMW.com at http://www.themw.com/#!/page/championship_c-itrack. In addition, Friday and Saturday's track events will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Network. Fans can watch those events at http://www.themw.com/#!/watch-live.
Women's Team Scores
1. Colorado State - 13 Points
2. Nevada - 11 Points
3. Boise State - 10 Points
4. Fresno State - 8 Points
5. Air Force - 7 Points
T-6. San José State - 6 Points
T-6. Wyoming - 6 Points
T-6. New Mexico - 6 Points
9. San Diego State - 5 Points
10. UNLV - 4 Points
11. Utah State - 2 Points
Women's Pentathlon Results
1. 4,060 - Nicole Wadden, Nevada
2. 3,932 - Jessica Green, Colorado State
3. 3,712 - Jade Childs, San José State
4. 3,690 - Kassidy Ellis, San Diego State
5. 3,625 - Stella Clemens, UNLV
6. 3,617 - Kyra Mophns, New Mexico
7. 3,582 - Alexa Chacon, Air Force
8. 3,528 - Monica Franco, Colorado State
9. 3,491 - Brittany Lewis, Colorado State
10. 3,454 - Alexandra Tierney, Nevada
11. 3,419 - Alyssa Hirschi, Utah State
12. 3,347 - Jestena Mattson, Frasno State
13. 3,336 - Karsen Sper, San Diego State
14. 3,334 - Jelena McNown, San Diego State
15. 3,205 - Clare Nicolas, Wyoming
16. 3,133 - Kolbi Sims, San José State
DNF - Emily Reed, Utah State
Event Results
60-Meter Hurdles
1. Kassidy Ellis, San Diego State, 8.65; 2. Jade Childs, San José State, 8.71; 3. Nicole Wadden, Nevada, 8.84; 4. Alexa Chacon, Air Force, 8.90; 5. Jessica Green, Colorado State, 8.91; 14. Kolbi Sims, San José State, 9.49.
High Jump
1. Nicole Wadden, Nevada, 1.80m; 2. Jessica Green, Colorado State, 1.74m; 3. Stella Clemens, UNLV, 1.65m; 3. Jestena Mattson, Fresno State, 1.65m; 5. Kyra Mohns, New Mexico, 1.62m; 5. Kolbi Sims, San José State, 1.62m; 5. Jade Childs, San José State, 1.62m.
Shot Put
1. Stella Clemens, UNLV, 11.83m; 2. Jessica Green, Colorado State, 11.39m; 3. Brittany Lewis, Colorado State, 11.32m; 4. Nicole Wadden, Nevada, 11.24m; 5. Jade Childs, San José State, 11.15m; 12. Kolbi Sims, San José State, 9.56m.
Long Jump
1. Kassidy Ellis, San Diego State, 5.81m; 2. Jade Childs, San José State, 5.70m; 3. Jessica Green, Colorado State, 5.62m; 4. Jalena McNown, San Diego State, 5.59m; 5. Stella Clemens, UNLV, 5.49m; 15. Kolbi Sims, San José State, 4.97m.
800 Meters
1. Nicole Wadden, Nevada, 2:19.11; 2. Alexandra Tierney, Nevada, 2:21.86; 3. Alexa Chacon, Air Force, 2:22.39; 4. Monica Franco, Colorado State, 2:24.52; 5. Jessica Green, Colorado State, 2:25.98; 14. Jade Childs, San José State, 2:36.13; 16. Kolbi Sims, San José State, 2:45.46.