PULLMAN, Wash. -- A trio of Washington State track and field competitors etched their names in the school top 10 records Friday during the first day of the Cougar Indoor collegiate meet at the WSU Indoor Practice Facility.
Alissa Brooks-Johnson (redshirt senior, Doty, Wash.) won the women's pentathlon with a personal-record total of 4,190 points, third-best in WSU history and currently fourth-best in the nation. She opened the competition with a PR time of 8.57 seconds in the 60m hurdles, 20/100s second faster, high jumped a season-best height of 5-feet 7 3/4 inches (1.72m), threw the shot put a season-best 38-4 1/4 (11.69m), long jumped a PR distance of 19-0 (5.79m) and ran a PR time in the 800m of 2-minutes 15.78 seconds, aided by Central Washington's Ali Anderson's 2:14.35 pacing.
Brock Eager (redshirt junior, Renton, Wash.) dominated the men's 35-pound weight throw, winning with a PR heave of 68-0 1/2 (20.74m), third-best in WSU all-time records and 21st-best nationally this season. Teammate Amani Brown (redshirt junior, Des Moines, Wash.) finished second with a PR throw of 61-9 3/4 (18.84m), a mark that is 10th-best in WSU all-time records. Tyler Jackson grabbed fifth place with a PR throw of 52-3 1/4 (15.93m).
Lindsey Schauble (junior, Kennewick, Wash.) finished sixth in the pentathlon with a score of 3,438 points. She ran the 60m hurdles in a season-best time of 9.19, high jumped 5-1 3/4 inches (1.57m), threw the shot put 35-4 (10.77m), long jumped a PR distance of 17-8 1/4 (5.39m) and ran the 800m in a time of 2:36.17.
After four events in the men's heptathlon, Nicholas McGill from Whitworth leads with 2,726 points. WSU freshman Martin Moldau (Rakvere, Estonia) is in second place with 2,702 points and his twin brother Sander is in fourth place with 2,657 points. Martin Moldau ran the 60m dash in a time of 7.35, long jumped 21-1 1/4 (6.43m), threw the shot put 38-10 1/4 (11.84m) and high jumped a height of 6-0 1/2 (1.84m). Sander Moldau ran the 60m dash in a time of 7.28 long jumped 19-6 1/4 (5.95m), threw the shot put 39-6 1/2 (12.05m) and high jumped a height of 6-1 1/2 (1.87m).
WSU's Robby Flores won the men's triple jump with a leap of 48-10 3/4 (14.90m) with Josh Colbert third with a mark of 45-9 3/4 (13.96m) and Jeremiah Stone fourth with a mark of 45-8 1/2 (13.93m).
Cougars finished one-two-four in the women's 20-pound weight throw. Aoife Martin captured first with a throw of 56-6 (17.22m), Stacia Bell was the runner-up with a PR mark of 52-3 1/4 (15.93m), and Lovely Tukuafu also tossed a PR mark of 47-7 (14.50m).
Cougar alum Kiana Davis broke the meet record in the women's triple jump with a leap of 42-4 3/4 (12.92m), surpassing Greer Alsop's 2017 mark of 41-6 1/2 (12.66m). Tonight, Alsop finished second with a season-best distance of 40-3 1/2 (12.28m). WSU'S Oyinlola Akinlosotu took third place with a PR mark of 40-0 1/2 (12.20m) and Brittni Williams was fourth with a PR of 39-3 3/4 (11.98m).
THEY SAID:
Wayne Phipps, WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field said, "Alissa's performance was fantastic but not surprising based off the way her practices have been going. Starting off with an awesome hurdles race really established that confidence that all of her hard work was coming to fruition. And that the coaches were saying about how ready she was, she could feel that it was tangible. She was solid all the way through and knew what she had to do in the 800m and did exactly that. I'm so happy for her and proud of her."
Alissa Brooks-Johnson, pentathlon winner, said, "I'm very excited and happy with my marks. I tend to do better on our home track. Moving forward I'm hoping to make it to the NCAA Championships."
On which of the four PRs Friday was the most surprising, Brooks-Johnson said, "Hurdles. I'm very excited about my hurdles race. In the beginning of the year we started seven-stepping and I got very frustrated with that. Then we moved back to eight steps to the first hurdle. I've been working on my speed so to see a huge PR today I was very happy."
Brock Eager, men's weight throw winner said, "It is nice to throw at home. We have a concrete circle in our facility so it's better than going to some facilities that have a wood ring that's a little slick. And we practice here all the time so it's the home ring. The atmosphere is amazing with all of the teammates yelling and screaming."
On where he is in the training for the season Eager said, "This week was one of our heaviest weeks in the weight room so I'm a little fatigued. Now we'll back off the weights and get better practices in and be hitting some higher numbers towards conference championships for sure."
On Amani Brown joining him in the WSU top 10 records Eager said, "It's fantastic. I thought Travis Pickett was going to do it last year and he was close. Amani squeaked in this year and he's got a lot more in him. And I'm excited to see what we do outdoors in the hammer."
Amani Brown, runner-up in the men's weight throw with the 10th-best throw in school history said, "I was hoping for (the mark to get in the records). I opened up the season throwing pretty far and I was hoping to move meter-by-meter. I got closer and closer and finally hit a little closer to my goal. I was really happy that it happened today."
On the difference between last year and right now Brown said, "Technique. I've always been relatively somewhat strong but the strength doesn't always help you, sometimes technique works a lot better."
NOTEWORTHY:
Alissa Brooks-Johnson (redshirt senior, Doty, Wash.) won the women's pentathlon with a personal-record total of 4,190 points, third-best in WSU history and currently fourth-best in the nation. She opened the competition with a PR time of 8.57 seconds in the 60m hurdles, 20/100s second faster, high jumped a season-best height of 5-feet 7 3/4 inches (1.72m), threw the shot put a season-best 38-4 1/4 (11.69m), long jumped a PR distance of 19-0 (5.79m) and ran a PR time in the 800m of 2-minutes 15.78 seconds, aided by Central Washington's Ali Anderson's 2:14.35 pacing.
Brock Eager (redshirt junior, Renton, Wash.) dominated the men's 35-pound weight throw, winning with a PR heave of 68-0 1/2 (20.74m), third-best in WSU all-time records and 21st-best nationally this season. Teammate Amani Brown (redshirt junior, Des Moines, Wash.) finished second with a PR throw of 61-9 3/4 (18.84m), a mark that is 10th-best in WSU all-time records. Tyler Jackson grabbed fifth place with a PR throw of 52-3 1/4 (15.93m).
Lindsey Schauble (junior, Kennewick, Wash.) finished sixth in the pentathlon with a score of 3,438 points. She ran the 60m hurdles in a season-best time of 9.19, high jumped 5-1 3/4 inches (1.57m), threw the shot put 35-4 (10.77m), long jumped a PR distance of 17-8 1/4 (5.39m) and ran the 800m in a time of 2:36.17.
After four events in the men's heptathlon, Nicholas McGill from Whitworth leads with 2,726 points. WSU freshman Martin Moldau (Rakvere, Estonia) is in second place with 2,702 points and his twin brother Sander is in fourth place with 2,657 points. Martin Moldau ran the 60m dash in a time of 7.35, long jumped 21-1 1/4 (6.43m), threw the shot put 38-10 1/4 (11.84m) and high jumped a height of 6-0 1/2 (1.84m). Sander Moldau ran the 60m dash in a time of 7.28 long jumped 19-6 1/4 (5.95m), threw the shot put 39-6 1/2 (12.05m) and high jumped a height of 6-1 1/2 (1.87m).
WSU's Robby Flores won the men's triple jump with a leap of 48-10 3/4 (14.90m) with Josh Colbert third with a mark of 45-9 3/4 (13.96m) and Jeremiah Stone fourth with a mark of 45-8 1/2 (13.93m).
Cougars finished one-two-four in the women's 20-pound weight throw. Aoife Martin captured first with a throw of 56-6 (17.22m), Stacia Bell was the runner-up with a PR mark of 52-3 1/4 (15.93m), and Lovely Tukuafu also tossed a PR mark of 47-7 (14.50m).
Cougar alum Kiana Davis broke the meet record in the women's triple jump with a leap of 42-4 3/4 (12.92m), surpassing Greer Alsop's 2017 mark of 41-6 1/2 (12.66m). Tonight, Alsop finished second with a season-best distance of 40-3 1/2 (12.28m). WSU'S Oyinlola Akinlosotu took third place with a PR mark of 40-0 1/2 (12.20m) and Brittni Williams was fourth with a PR of 39-3 3/4 (11.98m).
THEY SAID:
Wayne Phipps, WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field said, "Alissa's performance was fantastic but not surprising based off the way her practices have been going. Starting off with an awesome hurdles race really established that confidence that all of her hard work was coming to fruition. And that the coaches were saying about how ready she was, she could feel that it was tangible. She was solid all the way through and knew what she had to do in the 800m and did exactly that. I'm so happy for her and proud of her."
Alissa Brooks-Johnson, pentathlon winner, said, "I'm very excited and happy with my marks. I tend to do better on our home track. Moving forward I'm hoping to make it to the NCAA Championships."
On which of the four PRs Friday was the most surprising, Brooks-Johnson said, "Hurdles. I'm very excited about my hurdles race. In the beginning of the year we started seven-stepping and I got very frustrated with that. Then we moved back to eight steps to the first hurdle. I've been working on my speed so to see a huge PR today I was very happy."
Brock Eager, men's weight throw winner said, "It is nice to throw at home. We have a concrete circle in our facility so it's better than going to some facilities that have a wood ring that's a little slick. And we practice here all the time so it's the home ring. The atmosphere is amazing with all of the teammates yelling and screaming."
On where he is in the training for the season Eager said, "This week was one of our heaviest weeks in the weight room so I'm a little fatigued. Now we'll back off the weights and get better practices in and be hitting some higher numbers towards conference championships for sure."
On Amani Brown joining him in the WSU top 10 records Eager said, "It's fantastic. I thought Travis Pickett was going to do it last year and he was close. Amani squeaked in this year and he's got a lot more in him. And I'm excited to see what we do outdoors in the hammer."
Amani Brown, runner-up in the men's weight throw with the 10th-best throw in school history said, "I was hoping for (the mark to get in the records). I opened up the season throwing pretty far and I was hoping to move meter-by-meter. I got closer and closer and finally hit a little closer to my goal. I was really happy that it happened today."
On the difference between last year and right now Brown said, "Technique. I've always been relatively somewhat strong but the strength doesn't always help you, sometimes technique works a lot better."
NOTEWORTHY:
- The Cougar Indoor, a collegiate invitational meet, concludes with a full cadre of events Saturday, Feb. 3, beginning at 10 a.m. at the WSU Indoor Facility.