SEATTLE -- The Washington State track and field competitors had another highly successful day at the Husky Classic at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.
In the women's premier sections of the mile,
Kaili Keefe (sophomore, Yakima, Wash.) and
Vallery Korir (senior, Iten, Kenya) clocked in PR times that landed in the WSU history top five. Keefe, a January transfer from Eastern Washington University, won her heat and was 25th overall in a time of 4 minutes 47.37 seconds, fourth-best all-time, while Korir's time of 4:49.84 is fifth-best in WSU records. Friday night Korir ran the school record time of 16:07.72 in the 5000m.
In the men's mile,
Justin Janke (sophomore, Spokane) and
Paul Ryan (redshirt sophomore, Moscow, Idaho) reached PRs of 4:05.99 and 4:06.01, respectively.
A trio of WSU women reached PRs in the 800m with
Marlow Schulz (senior, Whitefish, Mont.) finishing in 16th place with a time of 2:10.13 and
Zorana Grujic (freshman, Novi Sad, Serbia) was 18th with a time of 2:10.77.
Natalie Ackerley's 2:12.75 was 31st.
Colton Johnsen (sophomore, Bellingham, Wash.) finished 36th in the 3000m with a PR time of 8:07.06, chopping 10 seconds off his previous best.
Chandler Teigen (junior, Anatone, Wash.) was 44th with a time of 8:10.53, just off his PR of 8:10.08.
Kyler Little (junior, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) ran a 15-seconds improved PR time of 8:16.74 for 57th out of the 101 runners in the premier sections.
Devon Bortfeld ran her first 3000m of the season with a time of 9:32.26 for 33rd.
In the men's high jump,
Keelan Halligan (junior, Bothell, Wash.) and
Peyton Fredrickson (junior, Ridgefield, Wash.) tied for fifth place when both cleared 6-feet 9 inches (2.06m), a season-best for Halligan and a lifetime-best for Fredrickson.
ALBUQUERQUE -- At the University of New Mexico Don Kirby Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center Saturday, several Cougars achieved marks close to their PRs with season-bests.
Multi-events competitor
Alissa Brooks-Johnson (redshirt senior, Doty, Wash.) ran back-to-back PRs in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.55 seconds in the semifinals and a time of 8.50 for seventh place in the final.
Christapherson Grant (junior, Lynnwood, Wash.) ran a season-best time of 8.08 in the men's 60m hurdles for fourth place in the final with
Nick Johnson sixth with a time of 8.10.
For the second consecutive week,
Greer Alsop triple jumped a season-best distance of 40-feet 3 1/2 inches (12.28m).
THEY SAID:
Wayne Phipps, WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field, said, "We had a number of outstanding performances led by our milers and in particular our female milers Kaili and Vallery who ran the fourth and fifth fastest times in WSU history. Making it even more impressive was that Vallery doubled back after her school record in the 5k. Newcomer
Colton Johnsen was also impressive with another huge personal best in the 3k."
Kaili Keefe earned two entries into the WSU top 5 all-time marks in the DMR and the mile this weekend said, "The DMR definitely set me up nicely for today. We had a good race last night and I think that helped set the mood for today. I was worried how I'd feel doubling but I think things just fell in place and Val and I worked a lot together throughout the race which helped a lot."
NOTEWORTHY:
- Between the two meets this weekend, the WSU men tallied 13 PRs and four season-best marks while the WSU women had 11 PRs and three season-bests.
- Three current Cougars are in the WSU all-time top 10 women's mile standings: Kaili Keefe fourth (4:47.37), Vallery Korir fifth (4:49.84), and Devon Bortfeld seventh (4:50.96). The record time of 4:43.71 was run indoors by Abby Regan in 2015 in Seattle, where all the current Cougs ran their times.
- WSU student coach CJ Allen, running unattached, finished fourth in the men's 400m dash with a time of 47.33, well under the USATF Indoor Championships (Feb. 16-18 in Albuquerque) standard of 47.40.
- The Cougars next competition will be at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, Feb. 23-24, at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.
