Neil K. Warner

Daily Herald

Congratulations and condolences are in order for Gavin Shaw and Kirsten Barney.

The two made Utah Valley State school history when they became the first track athletes to qualify for the NCAA West regional meet.

We have another first. One small step for UVSC, one giant step for a program that still doesn't have its own facility.

But just because they qualified to compete in Oregon at the NCAA Western Regionals doesn't mean they will be in competing

UVSC athletes are not eligible to participate in the NCAA meet until its provisional period is over (in 2009-10) and UVSC goes on to be accepted to compete in Division I competition.

But that doesn't make their accomplishment any less significant.

"It shows that you can come here and run or throw at a high level," said UVSC track coach Scott Houle. "It's unique in track and field to go to the NCAA meet, because you have to meet certain standards. In other sports sometimes teams are picked to participate and some are left out, but in track and field there is a standard that's incredibly tough, but it makes it great when you reach that goal. For them to do this and not have a facility for the kids to go to is really awesome for us to see the kids do that."

Shaw qualified in the hammer with a throw 190 feet, 2 inches. The qualifying standard the event is 182-5.

Shaw's performance was especially impressive since he missed his junior year when he returned home to Cape Town, South Africa, to be with his mother, who had cancer.

It was in South Africa where Shaw excelled at throwing the hammer, discus and shot put at Bellville Technical High School. He was named Sportsman of the Year and Athlete of the Year from 1997-99.

"You're always hoping to qualify for the finals. It actually wasn't my best throw. My sophomore year I had a throw of 202 (at the Mt. Sac meet), which was a school record," Shaw said. "I've just tried to work hard and throw as much as I can. I try and get in 45 or 50 throws a day. Usually I do it at BYU, whenever they're done (practicing)."

Shaw may not have been surprised at his own performance, but Barney was surprised at hers.

Barney qualified in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:49.48, nearly 20 seconds faster than she has previously ran. The 3,000m steeplechase standard is 10:50.25.

Barney, a junior, from Richfield, helped her cross country team won state during junior and senior seasons. She was the state champion in the 3,200m and 1,600m races during her junior and senior years, set a school record every year in the 3,200m and holds the school record in the 1,600m.

"I can't express how exciting it was. It feels like all the hard work is finally paying off. I come from a small school so this is pretty much like a dream come true," Barney said. "I didn't even know I'd qualified until a few days later when my teammates called and said I'd qualified. I was very excited because it came out of now no were, it was a 17 second PR (personal record)."

For a program that doesn't have its own track and is not allowed to participate at the national meet, no matter how good they perform, winning the gold will have to come in the form of individual improvement each week.

"To do what they did early in the season shows how well they have been training in the off-season," Houle said. "Success breeds success. It is starting to develop within our program here. I think this will serve as motivation for their teammates and we could have several other athletes qualify before the end of the season."

Baseball team hosts Binghamtom: UVSC hosts Binghamton today in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.

Both games will feature GameTracker and live audio at www.WolverineGreen.com.

The Wolverines are coming off of a 7-5 win on Saturday against South Dakota State.

Kyle Kasper will start Game 1 for UVSC, while Jory Jensen will get his first career start in the second game of the twinbill.

Binghamton is out of New York and went 1-2 against BYU in a three-game series that ended Monday afternoon with a 12-10 loss.

Following the doubleheader, the Wolverines will play four games against in-state foe Utah. Thursday the teams will meet at 3 p.m. at Ute Field with Friday contest in Orem at 7 p.m. The series will conclude with a Saturday doubleheader in Salt Lake City at Ute Field.

Softball team travels to Logan: The UVSC softball team is at Utah State today for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Following today's twinbill, the Wolverines host Nevada, also of the WAC, on Thursday and 2 p.m. and fellow Division I Independent Northern Colorado on Friday and Saturday.

This is the third meeting of the season between UVSC and Utah State. The two teams played twice in Cedar City with UVSC winning 2-1 and losing 9-3.

Utah Valley is 9-18 and hasn't played since suffering two losses to No 13 Oregon on March 25. The Wolverines offensive production is led by Heidi Boyer and Corie Jensen. Boyer is batting .441 with one home run and 11 RBI while Jensen is hitting .338 with three home runs and 14 RBI. Jensen is also the top pitcher with four wins and a 4.11 era.

Utah State (9-20) is led by Jamie Fife and Amy Schaible. Fife is batting .329 with four home runs and 14 RBI while Schaible is hitting .305 with seven home runs and 17 RBI.

Neil Warner can be reached at nwarner@heraldextra.com.

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This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.