The Sacramento State men placed seventh while the women placed eighth at the Big Sky Indoor Championships in Pocatello, Idaho. Jonathan Davis captured the Big Sky Title in the 55-meter dash as the Hornet men finished with a score of 29 points. The women finished with 14.

“I was extremely pleased with Jonathan,” head coach Jeff Neff said. “He has been working his way up the ladder and was anxious to prove that he was the best. I told him to be patient and to continue to work his butt off and it finally happened for him. I guess we both got our wish.”

On the women?s side freshman Heidi Proppelreiter recorded a leap of 37 feet, 6.50 inches to capture fifth in the women?s triple jump. Senior Wendi Selle delivered a respectable performance in the weight throw placing fifth with a throw of 53-1.50.

However, the underlying issue with the track team right now is injuries that continue to keep some of the Hornets more notable performers on the sidelines. Injuries have completely taken their toll on both the women and men?s side forcing Sac State to take their lumps in events that they should be scoring in.

“This was an extremely difficult meet for us,” Neff said. “Injuries have taken up residence at our camp and forced into some predicaments that we aren?t comfortable with.”

Sophomore long jumper Shanita Bryant didn?t even make an attempt due to a nagging hamstring injury.

“The hamstring tightened up and with our outdoor season beginning in a couple of weeks, it was just not worth the risk,” Neff said.

Injuries to Melissa Madison (5000 meters) and Tina Limon (1500 meters) were also instrumental in keeping the Hornets from having a better showing at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.

Monica Crawford (shot put), who is pregnant and is expecting a baby in May, has also been sorely missed.

“Those three athletes (Bryant, Limon, and Madison) are people that we depend on for points,” Neff said. “Those are a consistent 30 points that we missed for this meet and a consistent 30 points that we will continue to miss until our health situation clears up.”

Luckily, for the Sac State track team, the outdoor season is just a couple of weeks away.

“We are a far better outdoor team than we are an indoor team,” Neff said.”Outdoors we have strong athletes in the javelin throw and shot put, which gives us another dimension.”

As the outdoor season is closely upon us, things seemed to be looking up for the Hornets. “Well, we are expecting to get Shanita back some time in March,” Neff said. “Then with the addition of Melissa Madison and Tina Limon, we should start rounding into form in late April.”

Sacramento State will host their first outdoor competition of the season, the Bruce Drummond Invitational, Saturday, March 9, at 10:30 a.m. in Hornet Stadium.