Jeffries, Babbitt earn runnerup finishes

UW photo (top)/Richard Anderson photo (bottom left)
At top, Wyoming senior Johnna Jeffries competes in the high jump Saturday at the Mountain West Conference Championships. At bottom left, senior Lindsey Fuller competes in the triple jump.

Saturday's results

By Bobby Abplanalp
Wyoming Sports.org

Johnna Jeffries and Britney Jackson took second and fourth in the women’s high jump, while Shaylee Babbitt and Jennifer Schmitz took second and seventh in the 100-meter hurdles for the Cowgirls on the final day of the Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Louis S. Madrid Sports Complex.

Each Cowgirl mentioned above qualified for the Regional Championships in Norman, Okla., on May 29-30, for their respective efforts.

The high jump saw Jeffries, a senior, and Jackson, a sophomore, both finish at 5-feet, 7 inches.

“It feels good. I felt a little bit of pressure going into it,” Jeffries said. “I’ve jumped 5-8, 3/4, which is a regional qualifier. I felt like I should do that again, just fell a little short today, but I was pretty happy with where I came out.”

The senior will now prepare for the regional championships.

“I will definitely take that momentum and work on my timing during these next two weeks and stay focused,” Jeffries said. “I’m definitely going to take that momentum into regional’s and try and even go bigger. That’s the goal.”

Babbitt came up a little short of defending her 100-meter hurdle title, but finished second to the 2007 champion, Kishelle Paul of Texas Christian. Although Babbitt came in second, the senior set a personal record with a time of 13.52 seconds. She will now prepare for the regional championships.

The seventh-place slot went to Schmitz with a time of 13.84, which is also a personal record. The junior will be competing in the regional championships.

Afiya Walker and Sharon Larrier finished fifth and sixth in the 400-meter dash with times of 54.02 and 54.31, respectively. The sophomore and senior will both participate in the regional championships.

Senior Lindsey Fuller ended her career with an 11th-place finish in the triple jump, leaping 37-8.

Wyoming finished both fourth in the 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays with times of 46.27 and 3:38.98. Their effort in the 4x400-meter relay qualified junior Erica Anderson, freshman Lindsey Simmons, Walker, and Larrier to represent Wyoming in the regional championships.

At the end of the day, it was the Brigham Young women taking home its eighth MWC title all-time with 214 points. Texas Christian totaled 139 points for second place, followed by New Mexico (135), Air Force (124), defending champion Colorado State (110), and Wyoming (84).