May 16, 2002

IRVINE, Calif. - Utah State's Brad Bair won the Big West Conference decathlon while Aggie Katie Farner won the league's heptathlon championship here on Thursday. Those two events were conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, while the rest of the league championships' field and running events will take place on Friday and Saturday.

Bair, who led after the first day of the 10-event competition won the discus and the pole vault portion of the competition on the second day to finish with 6,926 points. Runner-up Joey Tosta of UC Santa Barbara scored 6,867 points.

Bair, a two-time league runner-up in the past, finally claimed his individual title in his senior year.

In addition to Bair, USU scored points in the decathlon with Dan Messick's fifth place finish (5,954 points) and Jake Johnson's seventh-place finish (5,731 points).

Farner, who was third in this event a year ago and entered the final day in third, defeated runner-up Jessica Stafford of UC Irvine by just 24 points. Farner scored 5,091 points to Stafford's 5,067. Dacia Fernandez, who was the first-day leader, was third with 4,822 points.

On Thursday, Farner, a a junior from Tremonton, Utah, recorded the most points of any of the 10 competitors in the long jump, the second most points in the javelin and the fourth most points in the 800-meters to gain the win.

Other USU finishers in the event included Amber Bagby, who finished fifth with 4,634 points and Dayna Barrett, who placed eighth with 4,293 points.

After the first event, USU leads the women's race with 15 points with Idaho second with nine points, UC Irvine third at eight points and Long Beach State fourth with seven points.

On the men's side USU leads as well with 16 points after just one event. UC Santa Barbara is second with eight points, Idaho third with six points and Cal State Northridge fourth with five points.