LOS ANGELES -- Washington State track and field competitors nabbed six wins and nine lifetime-best marks Saturday at the UCLA Bruins Legends Invitational at Drake Stadium.
One of the strongest events for the Cougar men in 2017 is the hurdles and Saturday's results demonstrated that. Freshman Sam Brixey (Boise, Idaho) won 110m high hurdles with a lifetime-best time of 14.10 seconds, actually nudging out UCLA's Misana Viltz (14.094 to 14.098). Christapherson Grant ran a PR time of 14.48 the same as Abu Kamara's season-best time and Grant was fourth in the Invitational race. Kamara won the College race and Nick Johnson ran a PR time of 14.75 for third. CJ Allen (senior, Allyn, Wash.) won the 400m hurdles with a time of 50.53.
Ja'Maun Charles (sophomore, Pleasanton, Calif.) won the men's 100m dash Invitational race in a time of 10.49. Earlier in the day he was on the winning 400m relay squad with a time of 40.82, and near the end of the meet he ran a non-wind-aided PR in the 200m of 21.24 for fifth place. In the 200m College race, Ethan Gardner's 22.00 was fourth and Zach Smith's 22.04 was fifth, both season-best times.
Matthew Swanson and Reid Muller finished one-two in the men's 800m with Swanson (redshirt senior, North Vancouver, B.C.) running a time of 1 minute 50.96 seconds and Muller (sophomore, Pitt Meadows, B.C.) clocking a time of 1:52.29.
In the field events, Cole Smith (redshirt junior, Hoquiam, Wash.) was the runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 207-feet 8 3/4 inches (63.32m) and high jumped a season-best 6-5 (1.96m) for ninth place. Tucker Mjelde took third place in the pole vault with a season-best clearance at 15-1 (4.60m) and Dino Dodig placed sixth with a leap of 14-7 (4.45m). Robby Flores triple jumped a season-best of 46-10 (14.28m) for seventh place.
In the shot put, Jake Callaghan's toss of 53-4 (16.26m) was eighth and in the discus Adam Mahama took third with a throw of 158-7 1/2 (48.35m) and Tyler Jackson was seventh with a throw of 151-10 (46.28m).
Regyn Gaffney (sophomore, Chehalis, Wash.) won the women's 100m dash with a PR time of 11.60, the third-fastest time run by a Cougar woman in school history. In the 200m dash, Jordyn Tucker ran a PR time of 24.71 for second place and Tierney Silliman's PR time of 24.82 was third place. The 400m relay of Tucker, Gaffney, Silliman and Danielle Darden ran a time of 46.09 for fourth place.
Marlow Schulz (sophomore, Whitefish, Mont.) won the 800m run with a time of 2:11.50 with teammates Grace Victor fourth in a PR time of 2:12.25 and Natalie Ackerley fifth in a PR time of 2:12.27.
Cougar freshmen Kelsey Kehl (Baldwin City, Kan.) and Atina Kamasi (Novi Sad, Serbia) finished one-two in the women's javelin. Kehl threw 147-2 (44.86m) while Kamasi tossed a mark of 146-10 3/4 (44.78m). Alissa Brooks-Johnson threw 125-0 3/4 (38.12m) for sixth.
Brooks-Johnson and Liz Harper both ran the 100m hurdles in a time of 14.44 for 13th and 14th, respectively. They also ran the 400m hurdles with Brooks-Johnson's time 1:01.75 for fifth and Harper's time of 1:02.73 for sixth.
Lateah Holmes and Kiana Davis each cleared 5-7 1/2 (1.72m) in the high jump with Davis second and Holmes fourth based on missed attempts. Davis also captured second in the triple jump with a PR leap of 41-8 (12.70m) which moved her up to number three on the WSU all-time top 10 list.
Molly Scharmann pole vaulted a PR height of 12-6 1/4 (3.82m) for eighth place and her mark is 10th-best in WSU all-time records.
Late Friday night at the Stanford Invitational, junior transfer Vallery Korir (Iten, Kenya) broke the WSU women's record with her 10,000m time of 33:58.17 for seventh in the women's Section 2 race. Korir broke CharLee Linton's 2015 school record time of 34:03.69, also run at the Stanford Invite.
Next scheduled competition for the Cougars is the Spokane Community College WAR X meet Saturday, April 8, in Spokane.
One of the strongest events for the Cougar men in 2017 is the hurdles and Saturday's results demonstrated that. Freshman Sam Brixey (Boise, Idaho) won 110m high hurdles with a lifetime-best time of 14.10 seconds, actually nudging out UCLA's Misana Viltz (14.094 to 14.098). Christapherson Grant ran a PR time of 14.48 the same as Abu Kamara's season-best time and Grant was fourth in the Invitational race. Kamara won the College race and Nick Johnson ran a PR time of 14.75 for third. CJ Allen (senior, Allyn, Wash.) won the 400m hurdles with a time of 50.53.
Ja'Maun Charles (sophomore, Pleasanton, Calif.) won the men's 100m dash Invitational race in a time of 10.49. Earlier in the day he was on the winning 400m relay squad with a time of 40.82, and near the end of the meet he ran a non-wind-aided PR in the 200m of 21.24 for fifth place. In the 200m College race, Ethan Gardner's 22.00 was fourth and Zach Smith's 22.04 was fifth, both season-best times.
Matthew Swanson and Reid Muller finished one-two in the men's 800m with Swanson (redshirt senior, North Vancouver, B.C.) running a time of 1 minute 50.96 seconds and Muller (sophomore, Pitt Meadows, B.C.) clocking a time of 1:52.29.
In the field events, Cole Smith (redshirt junior, Hoquiam, Wash.) was the runner-up in the javelin with a throw of 207-feet 8 3/4 inches (63.32m) and high jumped a season-best 6-5 (1.96m) for ninth place. Tucker Mjelde took third place in the pole vault with a season-best clearance at 15-1 (4.60m) and Dino Dodig placed sixth with a leap of 14-7 (4.45m). Robby Flores triple jumped a season-best of 46-10 (14.28m) for seventh place.
In the shot put, Jake Callaghan's toss of 53-4 (16.26m) was eighth and in the discus Adam Mahama took third with a throw of 158-7 1/2 (48.35m) and Tyler Jackson was seventh with a throw of 151-10 (46.28m).
Regyn Gaffney (sophomore, Chehalis, Wash.) won the women's 100m dash with a PR time of 11.60, the third-fastest time run by a Cougar woman in school history. In the 200m dash, Jordyn Tucker ran a PR time of 24.71 for second place and Tierney Silliman's PR time of 24.82 was third place. The 400m relay of Tucker, Gaffney, Silliman and Danielle Darden ran a time of 46.09 for fourth place.
Marlow Schulz (sophomore, Whitefish, Mont.) won the 800m run with a time of 2:11.50 with teammates Grace Victor fourth in a PR time of 2:12.25 and Natalie Ackerley fifth in a PR time of 2:12.27.
Cougar freshmen Kelsey Kehl (Baldwin City, Kan.) and Atina Kamasi (Novi Sad, Serbia) finished one-two in the women's javelin. Kehl threw 147-2 (44.86m) while Kamasi tossed a mark of 146-10 3/4 (44.78m). Alissa Brooks-Johnson threw 125-0 3/4 (38.12m) for sixth.
Brooks-Johnson and Liz Harper both ran the 100m hurdles in a time of 14.44 for 13th and 14th, respectively. They also ran the 400m hurdles with Brooks-Johnson's time 1:01.75 for fifth and Harper's time of 1:02.73 for sixth.
Lateah Holmes and Kiana Davis each cleared 5-7 1/2 (1.72m) in the high jump with Davis second and Holmes fourth based on missed attempts. Davis also captured second in the triple jump with a PR leap of 41-8 (12.70m) which moved her up to number three on the WSU all-time top 10 list.
Molly Scharmann pole vaulted a PR height of 12-6 1/4 (3.82m) for eighth place and her mark is 10th-best in WSU all-time records.
Late Friday night at the Stanford Invitational, junior transfer Vallery Korir (Iten, Kenya) broke the WSU women's record with her 10,000m time of 33:58.17 for seventh in the women's Section 2 race. Korir broke CharLee Linton's 2015 school record time of 34:03.69, also run at the Stanford Invite.
Next scheduled competition for the Cougars is the Spokane Community College WAR X meet Saturday, April 8, in Spokane.