SEATTLE --Washington State's track and field competitors reached school records and personal-best performances Friday evening at the UW Invitational Indoor meet at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.
Senior CharLee Linton (Shorewood, Wash.) erased nearly 10 seconds off her 5000m PR time Friday night. Linton's time of 16-minutes, 35.48 seconds is seventh-best in WSU all-time records, seventh-best among the collegiate runners in the elite heat, and 12th place overall. Devon Bortfeld's PR time of 17:03.64 was second-best in the second heat and 21st overall. Also running big 5k PR times Friday night were Emily Dwyer (17:10.32 - 26th) and Morgan Willson (17:17.22 - 28th).
Katie Wardsworth (redshirt sophomore, Spokane Valley) placed eighth in the women's 20-pound weight throw with a PR throw of 54-feet even (16.46m) which is the eighth-best weight throw in WSU all-time records.
The Distance Medley Relay team of Paul Ryan (1200m), Ray Littles (400m), Reid Muller (800m), and Nathan Tadesse (1600m) broke the freshman school record with their fourth-place finish in a time of 9:59.67. The 2016 squad bested the 2002 time of 10:05.44 run by Justin Ireland, Dione Cason, Jon Manthey and Dan Wolf in Moscow, Idaho.
A trio of Cougar women placed in the top eight in the 200m dash. Dominique Keel (senior, Beaverton, Ore.) finished third with a time of 24.47 seconds, Danielle Darden was sixth with a time of 24.98, and Christiana Ekelem was eighth in a time of 25.02. In the men's 200m dash, Terrance Chambers finished third with a time of 21.78.
In the men's 5000m, Sam Levora's 14:34.04 was eighth place and Forrest Shaffer finished ninth in a time of 14:35.63.
“Great start to the meet,” WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Wayne Phipps said. “Breaking the men's freshmen DMR school record was one of our goals tonight. That group can go a lot faster but it certainly was nice for them to get that record. Our women's 5k runners all smashed their personal bests and CharLee was painstakingly close to breaking the WSU school record. Nonetheless, she had a great race and an amazing last kilometer.”
The UW Invitational continues Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor facility.