ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - With 41 points on the final day of the 2024 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships, Fresno State earned its highest team finish since joining the conference, placing third with 87 points. The Bulldogs had previously not finished higher than sixth and their highest point total was 59.33.
Heading into the final event, Fresno State sat in fourth place, a half-point behind New Mexico. With the Lobos' 4x4 team running in the second heat, the Bulldogs relay team knew the time they needed to beat to move their team into third. With the 'Dogs just off the Lobo's pace when Ceonna Pipion got the baton on the anchor, the silver medalist in the 400 meters turned in the fastest leg in the event with a blistering time of 52.61 to pass San Jose State's Aliyah Williams and give her team a bronze in the event, and give the Bulldogs third place in the overall standings.
Pipion's day started in the finals of the 400 meters. Running in the first heat, the Folsom, Calif., native laid down the time to beat. Her 52.90 was the fifth-fastest mark all-time in MW history and broke Fresno State's record in the event. The senior was surpassed by a 52.43 in the second heat from San Diego State's Shaquena Foote.
With little time to rest, Pipion finished fifth in the 200 meters, clocking a time of 23.99, her second sub-24 time of the season.
Fresno State's day began in the 60-meter hurdles where pentathlon champion Madison Hutton earned the team's first point of the day, placing eighth with a time of 8.74.
While Pipion was busy on the track, a pair of 'Dogs were picking up their own medals. First, in the triple jump, Rachela Pace captured her second bronze medal of the meet. The junior was just off her program record mark, registering a best jump of 13.36m/43-10 on her final attempt which temporarily had put her in second.
In the shot put, the Bulldogs finished 3-5-6, led by Cierra Jackson. On her fifth attempt, the junior for Chandler, Ariz., improved her program record to 16.86m/55-3.75. Amelia DiPaola landed a new PR of 14.95m/49-0.75 on her final attempt. Jocelynn Budwig finished just behind her teammate with a mark of 14.59m/47-10.5. The 13 points proved to be crucial in the late stages of the meet.