SEATTLE -- Washington State's Brock Eager won the men's weight throw Friday to lead the Cougars men's team to second place after the first of two days of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships at the University of Washington Dempsey Indoor Facility.
 
Eager, a senior from Renton, Wash., won the men's 35-pound weight throw with a lifetime-best toss of 68-feet 11 1/4 inches (21.01m), improving his mark in WSU all-time records but not his third-best standing. Scoring at sixth-place in this event was redshirt junior Amani Brown (Des Moines, Wash.) who threw a distance of 62-7 3/4 (19.09m) which equals his PR throw, eighth-best in WSU history.
 
Zach Smith (senior, Bremerton, Wash.) won the first heat of the men's 200m dash final and then finished as the runner-up with a time of 21.61 seconds.
 
The Cougars distance medley relay teams both finished second in their events. The women's team of Zorana Grujic, Stephanie Cho, Marlow Schulz and Kaili Keefe ran a season-best time of 11:20.77 which is third-best in WSU all-time. The men's squad of Paul Ryan, Ja'Maun Charles, Justin Janke and Chandler Teigen also ran a season-best time of 9:49.06.
 
Vallery Korir (senior, Iten, Kenya) broke her own school record time in the women's 5000m with a time of 16 minutes 2.07 seconds for third place Friday night. Also scoring in the 5k was Devon Bortfeld (senior, Sammamish, Wash.) at eighth place with a time of 16:47.77.
 
Alissa Brooks-Johnson (redshirt senior, Doty, Wash.) finished third in the women's pentathlon with a score of 4,040 points, well below her PR of 4,190 points recorded earlier this month and seventh-best nationally at the start of this week. She opened the MPSF competition with a 60m hurdles time of 8.52 seconds, high jumped 5-feet 5 inches (1.65m), threw the shot put a season-best 37-3 1/4 (11.36m), long jumped a distance of 18-5 1/4 (5.62m) and ran the 800m in a time of 2 minutes 16.05 seconds, fastest of the remaining 17 competitors. Lindsey Schauble (junior, Kennewick, Wash.) finished 10th in the pentathlon with a score of 3,502 points. She ran the 60m hurdles in 9.19, equaling her season-best time, high jumped 5-2 1/2 (1.59m), threw the shot put a PR of 37-1 3/4 (11.32m), long jumped 16-10 (5.13m), and ran the 800m in a time of 2:29.73. UCLA senior Kendall Gustafson won the pentathlon with a score of 4,084 points.
 
Molly Scharmann (redshirt sophomore, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) placed sixth in the pole vault with a height clearance of 13-1 1/2 (4.00m). Freshmen Macee Erickson (Akron, Ohio) and Emily Coombs (Santa Ana, Calif.) both vaulted to PRs after clearing 12-3 1/2 (3.75m) with Erickson tied for 11th and Coombs 16th, based on missed attempts.
 
In the men's 60m hurdles prelims, Nick Johnson and Christapherson Grant advanced to the Saturday final. Johnson ran a prelim time of 7.98, equaling his PR time and fourth-fastest of the day, and Grant ran a time of 8.13, eighth-fastest on the day.
 
Ja'Maun Charles qualified to run in the men's 60m dash final with a prelim time of 6.81, fourth-best of the 28 racers.
 
After four events in the men's heptathlon, Kevin Nielsen from BYU leads with 3,014 points. WSU freshman Martin Moldau (Rakvere, Estonia) is in fifth place with 2,747 points but his twin brother Sander withdrew from the competition after only two events. Martin Moldau ran the 60m dash in a PR time of 7.31, long jumped 22-1 1/2 (6.47m), threw the shot put 39-7 3/4 (12.08m) and high jumped a height of 6-0 3/4 (1.85m). Sander Moldau ran the 60m dash in a time of 7.70 and long jumped 14-1 3/4 (4.31m) before ceasing to compete.
 
THEY SAID:
Wayne Phipps, WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field after Friday night's competition in Seattle said, "We had a great first day, led by an awesome win by Brock in the weight throw. Zach Smith ran a fantastic 200 out of an inside lane. He won his heat handily but just got edged out by a runner in another heat. Both DMRs ran very well. The women's team stayed in great position the entire race and Kaili ran a great last 400 to move us into second. In the men's DMR, we got down early but Justin moved us back into good position with a great 800 leg. And in typical Chandler fashion, he closed very well to move us from fifth to second. Vallery Korir was also outstanding as she broke her own school record to grab third place in a very competitive 5k. I was also impressed with Alissa Brooks-Johnson who after a great hurdle race found herself well back going into the 800. She led from start to finish in a gutsty 800 to almost complete a huge comeback victory in the pentathlon."
 
COUGARS MPSF FRIDAY NON-SCORING RESULTS
Men
60m Dash Prelims -Zach Smith 7.02 (20th), Ethan Gardner 7.04 (22nd)
200m Dash Final - Ethan Gardner 22.28 (21st)
5000m Final - Michael Williams PR 14:05.98 (9th), Colton Johnsen PR 14:30.40 (18th),
      John Whelan 14:42.13 (23rd)
60m Hurdles Prelims - Abu Kamara 8.19 (t9th)
Pole Vault - Tucker Mjelde 4.85m/15-11 (12th)
 
Women
60m Dash Prelims - Regyn Gaffney 7.62 (17th), Jordyn Tucker 7.69 (28th), Tierney Silliman 7.87 (42nd)
200m Dash Final - Tierney Silliman 25.05 (33rd), Jordyn Tucker 25.25 (41st)
5000m Final - Melissa Hruska PR 17:31.26 (18th), Josie Brown 17:32.51 (19th)
Pole Vault Final - Katelyn Frost 3.60m/11-9 3/4 (23rd)
Long Jump - Lauren Newman 5.25m/17-2 3/4 (17th), Greer Alsop 3.95m/12-11 1/2 (22nd)
20# Weight Throw Final - Aoife Martin 16.92m/55-6 1/4 (12th)
 
NOTEWORTHY:

• Men's team scores at the end of the MPSF first day: 1. BYU 34.5; 2. WSU 29; 3. UCLA 28; 4. Washington 25.5; 5. Colorado 20; 6. Arizona State 18; 7. Oregon 15; 8. USC 11 and Stanford 11; 10. Portland 10; 11. Cal State Northridge 9; 12. Arizona 8; 13. California 7; 14. Long Beach State 6; 15. UC Riverside 1.
• Women's team scores at the end of the MPSF first day: 1. USC 49; 2. Oregon 31; 3. California 28; 4. Stanford 27; 5. WSU 24; 6. Washington 22; 7. UCLA 20; 8. BYU 19; 9. Arizona State 14 and Colorado 14; 11. UC Davis 8; 12. Long Beach State 5 and Utah 5; 14. Arizona 4; 15. UC Riverside 3.
• Brock Eager won the men's hammer at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships and earned second team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
• The MPSF Indoor Track & Field Championships continue Sat., Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m. at the UW Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.