SEATTLE -- Washington State track and field teams were among the huge fields competing Saturday at the University of New Mexico Don Kirby Meet at the Albuquerque Convention Center, and at the Husky Classic Meet at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.
 
Devon Bortfeld, a junior from Sammamish, Wash., ran a lifetime-best time and the fourth-fastest 3000m time in WSU records of 9 minutes, 24.15 seconds for 27th. Earlier this season, also in Seattle, Bortfeld ran the school indoor record in the 5000m with a time of 16:30.30. Other Cougar women in the 3000m included Morgan Willson who ran a PR time of 9:49.59 (56th), Emily Dwyer 10:02.14 (70th), and Katherine Dittmann 10:27.20 (78th).
 
In the men's 3000m, Nathan Tadessse (redshirt freshman, Surrey, British Columbia) chopped an impressive 25 seconds off his lifetime-best mark Saturday with his time of 8:10.78 for 36th. Sam Levora also ran a PR 3k time of 8:16.90 for 54th, with Cougars Chandler Teigen's 8:19.68 was 61st, Michael Williams' 8:26.24 was 76th, and Nathan Wadhwani's 8:30.40 was 86th.
 
Matthew Swanson's 800m time of 1:52.77 was 30th, and Reid Muller's time of 1:54.81 was 44th.
Paul Ryan ran a mile PR time of 4:06.63 for 37th place.
 
Adreonia Bradley ran a PR time in the women's 400m dash of 58.79 for 16th place. In the women's 800m, Grace Victor placed 36th with her time of 2:13.41 and Natalie Ackerley ran a PR time of 2:14.15 for 40th.
 
Lateah Holmes high jumped 5-feet, 5 3/4 inches (1.67m) for fourth place while in the men's high jump Peyton Fredrickson took eighth and Cole Smith was tied for ninth after both cleared 6-6 3/4 (2.00m). In the women's pole vault elite flight, Kristine Felix passed on the opening two heights of 11-10 3/4 (3.63m) and 12-4 3/4 (3.78m) but then missed on all three attempts at 12-10 3/4 (3.93m).
 
Notable throws by Cougars included Jake Callaghan's shot put distance of 53-10 1/2 (16.42m) for 18th place, Chrisshnay Brown's PR shot put of 40-2 3/4 (12.26m) for 35th in the women's event, and Katie Wardsworth improved her PR mark in the weight throw with a heave of 56-8 3.4 (17.29m) for 11th place.
 
"After marathon bus rides (due to weather conditions one bus took 12 hours and another took 15 hours for the usual five and one-half hour trip), we had a solid weekend with several lifetime bests," Wayne Phipps, WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field said. "Devon Bortfeld continued her very impressive season with a huge personal best in the 3k, running one of the top times in the history of WSU. I was impressed with Nathan Tadesse's huge PR in the 5,000 meters. Brock Eager also continues to impress as he was the top collegiate in a very competitive field Friday and it was exciting to see Tucker Mjelde vault five meters for the first time."
 
In ALBUQUERQUE, Cougars competed in sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps Saturday.
 
Ja'Maun Charles took sixth place in the men's 60m dash in a PR time of 6.75. In the men's 60m hurdles, Sam Brixey placed fourth in a time of 7.96, Abu Kamara was sixth in a time of 8.04, and CJ Allen finished eighth in 8.05 after running a PR time of 8.01 in prelims.
 
Corey Allen ran a PR time in the 400m dash of 49.65 (32nd) and Ray Littles ran a season-best time of 50.38 (38th). In the women's 400m dash, Marlow Schulz ran a time of 57.49 (41st) and Stephanie Cho clocked in a PR time of 58.72 (58th).
 
WSU jumpers did find much luck in the high altitude. Josh Colbert had two fouls and a no distance in the men's triple jump while in the women's triple jump Greer Alsop finished 15th with her only measured mark of 20-8 3/4 (12.41m) and Kiana Davis was 25th with a jump of 38-7 (11.76m). In the women's long jump, Lauren Newman had one foul and two no distance attempts.
 
The next competition for the Cougars track and field teams is Feb. 24-25, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships in Seattle.