NORWALK, Calif. -- The Washington State women's 1600m relay made an outstanding showing Saturday evening during the final day of the 58th Annual Mt. SAC Relays, being held at Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif.
WSU's 4x400m relay team of Regyn Gaffney (freshman, Chehalis, Wash.), Dominique Keel (senior, Beaverton, Ore.), Christiana Ekelem (senior, Etiwanda, Calif.), and Liz Harper (junior, Missoula, Mont.) finished third in the fastest heat of the Invitational section with a time of 3 minutes, 36.76 seconds. The Cougars time was fourth-best overall and is now etched in the WSU all-time records as the fourth-fastest time in school history.
The 1600m relay winning time of 3:32.52 was run by TMB Track Club with Olympic and World Champion sprinter Allyson Felix running the second leg. Duke's 1600m squad was second with a time of 3:35.07, while an unattached team of post-collegiate racers was third overall in 3:36.36.
Cougar sprints and relays coach Yogi Teevens reported the unofficial split times as: Gaffney 56.37 seconds, Keel 52.76, Ekelem 53.37 and Harper 53.93.
One hour before the 1600m relay race, Harper placed ninth in the 400m hurdles after running a time of 59.39.
Earlier in the day, the women's 4x100m relay team of Gaffney, Danielle Darden, Ekelem and Keel was disqualified for passing outside the zone in the Invitational race.
Junior CJ Allen (Allyn, Wash.) ran the men's Invitational 400m hurdles in 50.26 seconds, winning his heat but fifth-fastest overall and the second collegian in the race. Former Cougar All-American, Jeshua Anderson, took second place in a time of 49.54.
The next competition for the WSU track and field teams is Saturday, April 23, when the Cougars host Washington in a dual meet at Mooberry Track.