Feb. 9, 2013
Results
SEATTLE/ALBUQUERQUE - For the second consecutive day the Washington State track and field teams tallied lifetime-best and season-best marks at both the Husky Classic at the Dempsey Indoor in Seattle, and at the Don Kirby Open meet at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
At the Husky Classic, seven WSU men and seven Cougar had PRs Saturday among some of the top competition in the nation.
Freshman Byron Howell, winner of the men's 200m Friday night, was the runner-up in the 400m dash with a PR time of 48.96 seconds. Also in the 400m, Cougar teammates Dana Wells took fourth place (49.07) and Jesse Jorgensen ran the 800m in a season-best time of 1 minute 51.77 seconds (10th place) and then joined the previous trio to run on the 4x400m relay. The Cougars ran a season-best time of 3:15.81 to place 27/100s second behind the relay squad from Idaho.
"Byron Howell impressed us last Fall and we thought he was really coming along then he sprained his ankle before Christmas and it has taken him awhile to come back," Cougar Head Coach Rick Sloan said. "He ran a 47.3 split on the anchor leg of the relay and had a great all-around weekend with the 200m last night and the 400m and relay today. He's coming around quickly."
Josiah Sims ran a PR in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.20 for fifth in the final followed by Ramsey Hopkins with a sixth-place time of 8.22.
Ruby Roberts finished third in the mile with a PR time of 4:48.15, and Courtney Zalud ran a PR in the 800m of 2:10.47 to finish fourth. Shaquana Logan, competing for WSU, ran a 60m hurdles prelim time of 8.78, equal to her season-best, but finished 10th in the final (8.84). A 4x400m relay squad of Zalud, Roberts, Holly DeHart and Caroline Austin finished seventh in a time of 3:52.19.
At the Don Kirby Open meet in Albuquerque Saturday, Cougars tallied four season-best marks and two lifetime best marks. Trevor Rogers ran a PR time in the 60m dash of 6.88 seconds for ninth.
Freshman Dominique Keel equaled her 60m PR time of 7.65 in the prelims and ran 7.67 for sixth in the final. Keel then took eighth in the 200m dash with a PR time off 24.44, just a place behind Shawna Fermin's seventh place and season-best time of 24.42. Bree Winfrey ran a season-fastest time of 56.56 for eighth in the 400m dash and Erin Allen's PR time of 57.34 was 13th.
"We were performing consistently coming into this weekend but our objective was to get up to the next level with everyone improving their performances and reestablishing their baselines. The vast majority of our people did exactly that," Cougar Head Coach Rick Sloan said. "It was exciting to see this week. We will use next week as a tune-up for some and others will rest before returning to Seattle for the Mountain Pacific Championships. I think we are going to be representative and compete very well even though the competition will be even tighter than it was here but we will be competing for a team score. That always brings out the best in our athletes."
Those Cougars who will compete next weekend will do so at the Idaho Collegiate meets in Moscow.
MORE QUOTES FROM COACH SLOAN:
(About the Seattle performances):
"From the sprint standpoint the people competed well. Spencer Wordell ran a lifetime-best in the 60m and got sidetracked on the last two hurdles or would have done well there too. Spencer and Sean Harris ran well on the men's "B" relay. Terrance Chambers did a good job with a PR in the 200m. The women had a couple of PRs in the 400m. In a lot of the races we were in the front of the pack.
"In the hurdles, Jesse Jorgensen had the lead but he was in a slow heat.
"Milers Richard Shroy looked strong and Forrest Shaffer had a big PR in his 3k race. In the women's 3k Emily Dwyer had a big PR. Our distance crew, nearly across the board, either ran PRs or ran season-bests so they came through and had a good meet in Seattle.
(About the New Mexico performances):
"The sprint crew did a great job and our jumpers, for the most part, did nice work with Trevor Rogers and Dominique Keel had a great meet in the 60m, the 200m and ran a 54.4 relay leg. She is coming around quickly and doing a great job. Shawna Fermin's 400m is a good start for her but I know she has a lot more to show. Jacob Sealby's 47.23 in the 400m was outstanding, and Lucas Sealby did a great job too. The women's relay time of 3:42.99 should get seeded into the fastest race at the Mountain Pacific but we'll wait and see about the men's relay."
