LOS ANGELES -- A limited number of Washington State track and field competitors opened their 2016 outdoor seasons at the USC Trojan Invitational, Friday and Saturday at Loker Stadium-Cromwell Field on the USC campus.
High jumpers Thane Pierson and Lateah Holmes won their events Saturday. Pierson (senior, Naches, Wash.) cleared 6-feet, 11 3/4 inches (2.13m) to win the men's title with freshman Peyton Fredrickson (Vancouver, Wash.) fifth with a leap of 6-6 3/4 (2.00m). Holmes (senior, Fife, Wash.) won the women's high jump with a clearance at 5-7 (1.70m) while Audrey Ketcham (senior, Wenatchee, Wash.) finished third after a top bar of 5-5 (1.65m).
Redshirt sophomore Brad Stevens (Snoqualmie, Wash.) won the men's javelin with a toss of 223-5 (68.10m).
In the only women's action on the track oval, the Cougars' 4x100m relay team was the runner-up with a time of 45.34 seconds behind host team USC's time of 44.41. WSU's short relay was comprised of Regyn Gaffney (freshman, Chehalis, Wash.), Danielle Darden (junior, Aliso Viejo, Calif.), Christiana Ekelem (senior, Etiwanda, Calif.) and Dominique Keel (senior, Beaverton, Ore.).
In other women's field events, Greer Alsop (redshirt sophomore, Invercargill, New Zealand) took third place in the long jump with a mark of 18-2 1/2 (5.55m). Kiana Davis (junior, Longview, Wash.) was seventh with a mark of 17-7 (5.36m). Katelyn Frost (freshman, Corvallis, Mont.) took fifth in the pole vault with a vault of 11-7 3/4 (3.55m). Kelsie Taylor (senior, Naches, Wash.) threw the javelin 142-11 (43.57m) for fourth place. Friday afternoon, Katie Wardsworth (redshirt sophomore, Spokane Valley, Wash.) was fifth in the hammer with a throw of 171-9 (52.36m).
On the track, the Cougar men's 4x100m relay of Zach Smith (sophomore, Bremerton, Wash.), Ja'Maun Charles (freshman, Pleasanton, Calif.), Terrance Chambers (senior, Federal Way, Wash.) and Jonnie Green (sophomore, Ephrata, Wash.) took third place with their time of 40.51 seconds, behind the winning USC squad's 39.93 and second-place Cal State Fullerton's time of 40.40. Christapherson Grant (freshman, Lynwood, Wash.) ran the 110m hurdles in a time of 14.89 for fifth place.
In other men's field events, Travis Pickett (redshirt junior, Snohomish, Wash.) took sixth in the Friday afternoon hammer event with a heave of 178-6 (54.42m) while Amani Brown (redshirt freshman, Seattle) took eighth with his mark of 175-5 (53.48m). Saturday, all three Cougar shot put competitors reached PRs. Matt Wardell (senior, Post Fall, Idaho) threw 54-8 3/4 (16.68m) for eighth, Adam Mahama (redshirt junior, Pullman, Wash.) threw 52-0 1/2 (15.86m) for ninth, and Jake Callaghan (redshirt sophomore, Yakima, Wash.) threw 51-7 1/4 (15.73m) for 11th.
Friday, at the Buc Scoring Invitational meet at Whitworth University, junior Brendan Rexus (Kennewick, Wash.) won the men's high jump with a PR leap of 6-6 3/4 (2.00m).
WSU competes Tuesday, March 24, in the Jim Bush Collegiate Invitational at UCLA's Drake Stadium against the Bruins and Arizona Wildcats in a live telecast on the Pac-12 Network.
