Jan. 12, 2013
Complete Results
PULLMAN - All-American Stephan Scott-Ellis broke his own meet record in the long jump Saturday at the 11th Annual Washington State Open Indoor track and field meet at the Indoor Facility on the Pullman campus.
Scott-Ellis, a senior from Tacoma, led a first through fourth-place Cougar finish in the men's long jump with a meet record leap of 23-feet 11 3/4 inches (7.31m), bettering his 2012 meet mark of 23-10 1/4 (7.27m). PJ Benedictus (sophomore, Renton) was second with a lifetime-best distance of 22-8 1/2 (6.92m), Trevor Rogers (senior transfer, Richmond, Calif.) placed third (22-7), and Michael Bolligar (senior, Peoria, Ariz.) finished fourth (22-1 1/2).
Garrett Gerling (redshirt sophomore, Walla Walla) won the men's 60m hurdles with a lifetime-best time of 8.23 seconds with Josiah Sims (junior, Tacoma) second (8.40/ 8.36 prelim time). Aric Walden (sophomore, Newport, Wash.) ran the fastest hurdles prelim time of 8.22 but fell in the final and finished last.
Andre McBride (freshman, San Leandro, Calif.) was the top collegiate finisher in the 60m dash with a time of 6.97. Drew Jordan (junior, Medford, Ore.), running unattached, won the mile with a time of 4:16.27 followed by Justin Englund (4:20.09) with Forrest Shaffer fourth (4:25.68). Matt Wardell (sophomore, Post Falls, Idaho) threw a PR in the shot put of 51-8 1/4 (15.75m) for second place.
Kelsey Bueno (junior, Kent) won the women's pole vault with an indoor PR height of 12-6 1/4 (3.82m). Holly Parent (redshirt junior, Victoria, B.C.) won the high jump with a strong showing at 5-8 1/2 (1.74m) after a year away from competition. Freshman Essence White (Tracy, Calif.) won the long jump with a leap of 17-2 (5.23m) while another freshman, Emily Dwyer (Sammamish, Wash.) won the women's mile in a time of 5:21.65.
Freshman Mercedes Smith (Country Club Hills, Ill.) won the 200m dash in a time of 25.40 and led a first-through-fifth finish for Cougar women. Morgan Clem (senior, East Wenatchee), running unattached due to only having outdoor eligibility remaining, won the women's 60m hurdles in a time of 9.02 and came back a short time later to win the 60m dash in a time of 7.93.
The meet provided an opportunity for collegiate athletes from WSU, Idaho, Spokane CC, Lewis-Clark State and Whitworth as well as club teams and unattached high school athletes to start the 2013 track and field competitive season. The meet concluded with the featured participant favorite, the co-ed 4x400m relay.
"It was our first competition and I'm happy overall with the fact that people came out and did a good job," Cougar Head Coach Rick Sloan said. "A lot of our people we will be dependent upon throughout the year either didn't compete or didn't compete in an open event but ran in the relay. When you look at the results, a lot of our people were invisible but I think in the weeks to come we will see people progressing rapidly."
"On the men's side, I was pleased with Garrett Gerling who had two good runs in the hurdles today. He is starting to come along and Mac (hurdles coach Aric Walden who ran well in the prelims but pushed himself too much and fell in the final. These two guys started at a high level. Drew Jordan looked good running the mile. Jesse Jorgensen only ran in the relay but showed they are in good shape and ready to compete really well."
"For the women, I think Kelsey Bueno nearly cleared 13-feet in the pole vault and I'm glad to see her get her season started off well. I'm happy with Holly Parent clearing 5-8 in the high jump after a year off. Mercedes Smith had a nice race and all of our 200m sprinters did a nice job. It was good to see Mary Barnett have a good series in the shot put."
The Cougar competitors will travel to the Boise Invitational or the University Idaho Collegiate I indoor track and field meets Jan. 19.
