When SMU’s men’s track and field team left for Houston last week to compete in the WAC Championships, the team expected to do well.
Little did they know they would win the whole thing.
For the first time since 1999, the men won the WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Wendel D. Ley Track on the campus of Rice University.
“To be honest, we went so far beyond my expectations, I don’t think anyone could have predicted the way this meet turned out,” head coach Dave Wollman said.
Leading SMU’s charge was a strong performance from the throwers. Of SMU’s team total of 205 points, 70 came from throwers.
Five-time NCAA Champion senior Libor Charfreitag broke the stadium record in the hammer throw, which he set in 1998, with a heave of 76.48 meters. The throw also set a WAC Championship record.
SMU’s best performance came in the shot put where six of the top seven finishers were Mustangs. Leading the charge was All-American junior Janus Robberts, who won his fourth straight title on Saturday with a new stadium record 21.06m.
“We were really happy with [the shot put performance],” Wollman said. “Obviously, it’s a team thing and a chance for all the throwers to get together and do the one event they all do, and they all do it pretty well.”
The Mustangs also took charge in during the tournament’s long-distance running meets.
First-year Dalibor Balgac won the 1,500-meter race while senior Roman Oravec took home the 800-meter competition. First-year Josef Rous won the 400-meter hurdles, and teammate first-year Martin Allgeyer took first both the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter races.
“We made the decision a couple weeks ago that we wanted to go for this thing,” Wollman said. “We asked a lot of people to give more than they usually give, and every single person stepped up.”
On the women’s side, SMU’s placed fourth, led by a quintet of individual champions. Sophomore Ruta Rakstyte won the shot put with a mark of 16.09m and first-year Irache Quintanal won the discus in 52.77m. First-year Karin Van Rooyen won the 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter runs, first-year Marie Norrman claimed the high jump and senior Tracey Ball triumphed in the 200-meter race.
SMU also claimed several honors, with Wollman being voted WAC Men’s Coach Of The Year. Freshman Of The Year honors went to Hannes Hopley and Van Rooyen. The meet’s Outstanding Male Performer Award went to Robberts, and the men’s High Point Award Winner was Balgac of SMU.
The NCAA outdoor track and field championships will be held May 29-June 1 in Baton Rouge, La.
The SMU Sports Information Office contributed to this report.
