Led by its throwers, the Chadron State College track team hoping for strong performances at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

The competition begins Sunday with the first half of the multi-events and continues through Tuesday afternoon.

Last year, the Chadron State men finished 3rd with 118 points and the women were 5th with 69.  Head coach Ryan Baily says Adams State has to be the overwhelming favorite for both the men’s and women’s titles this time, with the Eagles having a good shot at 2nd among the and a spot in the upper echelon of the women.

Among those leading the Chadron State men will be defending shot put champion Cody Hunt, who won last year with a heave of 63-4 ¾…a CSC and RMAC record. Although Hunt has yet to hit 60 feet this season, his best of 59-5 leads the conference and is  third best in Division II this spring.

Hunt also comes into this year’s meet with the best mark in the conference in the discus at 159-4. He placed fourth in the discus at last year’s meet, when he hit 153-4.

The Eagles’ Charith Kapukotuwa is currently 3rd on the conference season list in both the shot put at 53-11 ¼ and the discus at 155-2. He placed second in the shot at 55-2 ¾ and fifth in the discus at 152-7 at the 2012 meet.

Two other CSC men have the best marks in their events entering this year’s showdown… Phil Rivera in the 400 meters with a time of 48.42 seconds, and Gavan Archibald in the 400-meter hurdles at 53.74 seconds.

Three Eagle men have the second-best marks in their events entering the conference meet.  Karl McFarlane’s  13.93 in the 110 high hurdles is a CSC record and 4th fastest in Division II this spring, but Metro State’s Darius Reed has a 13.82. McFarlane also matched his career-best in the triple jump this spring 47-7 ¾ and ranks 3rd in the RMAC.

Kolten Jelden set the school record in the pole vault this spring at 15-9, while RMAC vault leader Ben Timmer of Colorado Mines has cleared 16-1 ¾.

Hunter Dittbenner  scored 5,715 points in his only decathlon competition this spring, a little over 500 points behind RMAC pacesetter Randy Brown of Colorado Mesa…whose best is 6,222 points.

For the women, CSC’s Alyssa Norton has the conference’s best discus throw entering the championships, a school record 159-8…9th best in the nation.

The junior from Gordon-Rushville also ranks 2nd in the shot put at 45-6 ½ and 4th in the hammer throw at 159-4. A year ago, she placed 2nd in both the discus (151-0) and hammer (159-0) and was 5th in the shot put (43-5 ¾).

Senior Sadie Waugh competed for the first time this season last Saturday at the Colorado Mines Pre-Conference Meet and sailed the discus 146-2, putting her behind only Norton this season. Freshman Mel Herl will enter the conference meet with the third best marks in both the shot and discus.

Senior Chelsea Murray has the second highest score in the decathlon so far this spring with 4,336 points. Danisha Phipps of New Mexico Highlands has tallied 4,868.

The Eagles expect to do well in the relays at the conference meet. Both 4×400 relay teams are 2nd on the pre-conference lists. The men have a best time of 3:16.41 and the women have a 3:59.20. The CSC men also are 3rd among the 4×100 relays with a time of 42.16 seconds.

The Eagles who rank among the top eight in their events and their marks entering the conference meet follow:
Women’s Events
100 hurdles—4, Chelsea Murray, 15.27.
400 hurdles—4, Meagan Nahrwold, 1:06.04; 7, Chelsea Murray, 1:06.58.
3000 steeplechase—7, Rebecca Volf, 11:42.79.
4×400 relay—2, Chadron State, 3:59.29.
Shot put—2, Alyssa Norton, 45-6 ½; 3, Mel Herl, 43-6; 5, Cyndi Thomas, 41-8 ¾.
Discus—1, Alyssa Norton, 159-4; 2, Sadie Waugh, 146-2; 3, Mel Herl, 144-10.
Hammer throw—4, Alyssa Norton, 159-4; 6, Cyndi Thomas, 151-0.
Javelin—5, Michaela Odenbaugh, 116-2.
Pole vault—3, Kaelie Jelden, 11-10 ½.
Heptathlon—2, Chelsea Murray, 4,336 points.
Men’s Events
100—8, Brandon Segelke, 11.0.
400—1, Phil Rivera, 48.42; 7, Fred Culp, 49.34.
110 hurdles—2, Karl McFarlane, 13.93; 5, Lanar Newman, 15.17.
400 hurdles—1, Gavan Archibald, 53.74.
4×100 relay—3, Chadron State, 42.16.
4×400 relay—2, Chadron State, 3:16.41.
Shot put—1, Cody Hunt, 59-5; 3, Charith Kapukotuwa, 53-11 ¼; 6, Kyle McCarthy, 49-2 ¼; 7, Tanner Rien, 48-4 ¾.
Hammer throw—5, Charith Kapukotuwa, 157-11.
Discus—1, Cody Hunt, 159-4; 3, Charith Kapukotuwa, 155-2.
Javelin—5, Sean Munger, 154-10.
Long jump—3, Lanar Newman, 22-9;  5, Donnie Butler, 22-3 ¾; 6, Greg Rodriguez, 21-10; 7, Barrett Browne, 21-9 ½.
Triple jump—3, Karl McFarlane, 47-7 ¾;  4, Lanar Newman, 45-3 ½; 7, Xavier Kvirstad, 44-7.
Pole vault—2, Kolten Jelden, 15-9; 4, Joe Hoffman, 15-0; 5, Skylar Hoopes, 14-10 ¾.
Decathlon—2, Hunter Dittbenner, 5,715 points;  5, Sean Munger, 5,397.