PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State newcomer Kiana Davis won her second event in two days and junior Kristine Felix soared to a meet record in the pole vault Saturday at the 13th Annual WSU Open indoor track and field meet at the Indoor Facility in Pullman.
Davis, a sophomore transfer from Longview, Wash., won the women’s high jump Saturday afternoon with a WSU personal-best height of 5-feet 7 1/4 inches (1.71m) after winning the triple jump (38-11 3/4/11.88m) Friday night. Davis was a two-time NAIA Indoor All-American last year at Vanguard University (Costa, Mesa, Calif.) and transferred to WSU last fall. The high jump was a first-through-third finish for Cougars with Audrey Ketcham second (5-5 1/4/1.66m) and Lateah Holmes third (PR 5-5 1/4/1.66m).
“Winning both the triple and high jumps was a good season-starter for me,” Davis said. “I was stoked. It was really fun to compete with a new team. I really love the coaches and the team is like a big family for me.”
Felix, from Wailuku, Hawai’i, flew over the pole vault bar at a height of 13-11 3/4 (4.26m), a meet record, a PR, and the second-best pole vault in Cougar women’s all-time records. The previous meet record was 13-7 1/4 (4.15m), vaulted by Ebbie Metzinger, competing unattached, in 2005. Samantha Andrada finished second Saturday with a vault of 12-0 (3.66m).
“There is nowhere to go but up from here and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season because I definitely know I can do better,” Felix, the 2013 Pac-12 pole vault champion, said.
WSU finished one-two-three in the women’s 60m dash with Danielle Darden’s PR time of 7.64 seconds the winner, followed by Dominique Keel’s season-best 7.74 and Bree Winfrey’s 7.85 for third. Adreonia Bradley won the 400m dash in 1 minute 0.78 seconds.
Liz Harper won the women’s 60m hurdles in a PR time of 8.79 with Candice McFarland the runner up in 8.80. Kelsie Taylor finished second in the shot put with a PR distance of 40-0 (12.19m).
Wins by Daniel Zmuda, Michael Williams, Austin Sodorff and Matt Wardell were the highlights for the Cougar men Saturday.
Zmuda, a sophomore from DuPont, Wash., won the men’s 60m hurdles with a PR time of 7.96 seconds; the first time the talented hurdler broke the eight-second mark. Michael Williams, a freshman from Richland, Wash., won the 3000m in a time of 8:48.99.
“Breaking eight seconds was a little bit of a breakthrough for me,” Zmuda said. “I’m excited to keep running faster and use the energy from this meet going forward.”
In the field, Sodorff, a junior from Woodinville, Wash., cleared the pole vault bar at a season-best height of 16-3 1/4 (4.96m). Wardell, a senior from Post Falls, Idaho, won the shot put with a PR throw of 52-7 1/2 (16.04m).
“I was excited as it was my first home meet as the Director of Track and Field at WSU and I thought the kids performed very well. We didn’t field a full team but all the kids who competed did very well,” Wayne Phipps, first-year Director of WSU Cross Country/Track & Field said. “I thought Kiana had a great weekend with near lifetime-bests in both events and without too much work yet in the triple jump. I think that is an event we’re going to see a lot of improvement. What can you say about Kristine Felix? She was fantastic today. She hit a mark that has a good chance of being an NCAA qualifier. I was really excited to see Daniel run under eight seconds for the first time. His pure running speed has really improved.”
Three women from Trinity Western University (Langley, British Columbia, Canada) ran times faster than the meet record in the mile of 5:03.48, run in 2008 by WSU’s Meghan Leonard. Fiona Benson (4:44.83) will get her name in the records with Sarah Inglis (4:45.03) and Regan Yee (4:52.84) taking second and third.
The WSU track and field teams will compete at the UW Invitational, Jan. 30-31, in Seattle, and be back in Pullman at the Indoor Facility for the Cougar Indoor meet, Feb. 6-7.
