TEMPE, Ariz. -- Washington State junior CJ Allen turned in an outstanding performance in the men's intermediate hurdles Saturday at the 37th Sun Angel Classic meet at Joe Sellah Track at Sun Angel Stadium on the Arizona State campus.
Allen ran a personal-best time in the 400m hurdles of 50.16 seconds for third place overall after racing in a highly competitive fourth heat. Allen's time moved him up to sixth-fastest in WSU all-time records and popped him into the top 15 fastest times in the world to date. The winner was WSU record-holder, US Champion and sometime training partner for Allen, Jeshua Anderson. Anderson ran the top time in the world of 48.92, followed by Texas A&M sophomore Robert Grant in a time of 49.73.
“I got out really well today but then had a tough time through the eighth, ninth and tenth hurdles,” Allen said. “This was a great competition before the Mt. SAC Relays race next week.”
For the third-time this season, Ja'Maun Charles ran his 100m PR time of 10.59, today for fifth place. The talented freshman came back later to run a PR time in the 200m dash of 21.30 for fourth place, with teammate Terrance Chambers clocking in a time of 21.39 for sixth. In the 4x100 relay Premiere section, WSU's Zach Smith, Charles, Chambers and Jonnie Green ran a time of 40.59 for eighth but were later disqualified for passing the baton outside the zone.
Dominique Keel ran a PR time in the 400m dash of 54.88 to take seventh place with fellow Cougar senior Christiana Ekelem taking eight place with a PR time of 55.04. Keel doubled back to finish as the runner-up in the 200m dash with a time of 24.29 with WSU freshman Regyn Gaffney taking sixth in 24.73.
Liz Harper broke the 14-second barrier in the women's 100m hurdles with her time of 13.88, 13th-best Saturday. She also long jumped 19-4 1/4w (5.90m), just four inches below her PR in the event, for ninth. Freshman Christapherson Grant ran a wind-aided PR time in the men's 110m hurdles of 14.85 for 12th place.
Kiana Davis finished second by a judge's decision in the women's high jump with her season-best jump of 5-feet, 8 3/4 inches (1.75m). And it was the same outcome for Thane Pierson, runner-up in the men's high jump on more missed attempts after clearing 6-10 3/4 (2.10m).
Greer Alsop, Kayla Warren and Davis finished sixth-through-eighth in the women's triple jump. Alsop jumped 40-5 1/2 (12.33m), Warren jumped 40-2 3/4 (12.26m), and Davis reached a mark of 40-2 1/4 (12.25m).
Adam Mahama threw a nearly five-foot PR in the discus of 164-11 (50.26m) for fifth. Brad Stevens took fifth place after he threw the javelin a distance of 223-5 (68.11m) which equaled his season-best.
"We had a solid meet today," WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Wayne Phipps said. "CJ Allen continues his strong season, running another personal best and the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA. It was even more impressive as it was coming off of a very hard week of training. Dom, Ja'Maun and Liz all had great meets both in quality and quantity. Dom ran an outstanding 400m and then shortly after ran a great 200m into a strong headwind. Ja'Maun equaled a personal best in the 100m, then PRed in the 200m from lane 9 and then came back to run a great leg in the 4x100m relay. Liz broke 14-seconds for the first time in the 100m hurdles then hustled over to the long jump and then in the middle of the long jump ran over to the start of the 400m hurdles in which she ran the 24th fastest time in the nation. I also thought Kiana Davis had a great double in the high jump and triple jump. Brad Stevens had a great series in the javelin and Adam Mahama had a nice PR in the discus."
In Friday night field events, Travis Pickett threw the hammer a distance of 185-8 (56.59m) to place sixth in the men's Premiere section. Austin Sodorff tied for seventh place in the men's pole vault after a best clearance of 16-0 3/4 (4.90m).
At the Spokane Community Colleges Ninth Annual Washington versus Region (WAR IX) Meet, McKenna Hogan won the women's long jump with a season-best distance of 17-8 3/4 (5.40m) with Essence White second with a mark of 17-8 1/4 (5.39m). Kaitlin Krouse won the women's discus with a PR toss of 148-8 (45.32m) and Cameron Brink won the men's discus with a season-best throw of 154-5 (47.07m).
The WSU Track & Field team members head to Southern California for several meets next week including the Mt. SAC Relays Combined Events and the California Invitational Combined Events, the Long Beach State Pacific Coast Intercollegiate, the Mt. SAC Relays and the Bryan Clay Invitational.