Weekend roundup, April 24th: Highlights from Cougar Invitational & WWU Twilight...

In Pullman, Washington State track and field competitors broke meet records and 10 reached lifetime-best marks Saturday under sunny skies at the 11th Annual Cougar Invitational Track & Field meet held at the Mooberry Track Complex.

WSU All-American javelin throwers Marissa Tschida (left/photo by Paul Merca) and Courtney Kirkwood opened the meet by both surpassing the meet record set in 2008 by Lynnea Braun, then at Spokane CC, of 161-feet, 7 inches (49.26m). Tschida, a senior from Missoula, threw the javelin 172-4 (52.52m) for the event win, and Kirkwood, a junior from Othello, threw a distance of 167-10 (51.17m) for the runner-up spot.

Courtney Zalud, WSU sophomore from Colbert, Wash., ran a meet record time in the women's 800m with a lifetime-best time of 2 minutes, 8.85 seconds, surpassing former Cougar All-American Alishia Booterbaugh's time of 2:09.94 run in the 2000 meet.

Complete results from the Cougar Invitational are available here.

In Bellingham, Sarah Porter (Sr., Hockinson) broke a 24-year-old school record in the women's 3000 meters, highlighting Western Washington University performances Saturday at the 11th annual Viking Twilite track and field meet at Civic Stadium.

Porter won the event in 9:35.75, breaking the school standard of 9:38.76 set by Jennifer Eastman in 1988.

The other WWU school record came in the men's hammer throw, where Michael Hoffman (Jr., Bellingham/Sehome) was a NCAA Division II automatic national qualifier with a meet-record mark of 206-3 (62.87m).

Ali Worthen, a SPU junior, went 19 feet, 7 ½ inches (5.98 meters) to win the long jump. It shattered her previous career best of 18-0 ½ / 5.50 meters set on April 9 at the War IV meet in Spokane. Not only was it easily an NCAA provisional mark, it pushed her all the way up to No. 3 in all of Division II, pending the outcome of other results this weekend. And, Worthen is just 1 ¼ inches away from making it an automatic trip to Turlock, Calif., for next month's nationals.

Falcons senior Melissa Peaslee cleared the 12-foot mark for the first time this spring to win the pole vault and gain a spot on the NCAA provisional list. Peaslee went 12-1 ½ / 3.70 meters. Her previous best this year was 11-5 ¾ / 3.50 meters just last week at the Spike Arlt Invitational in Ellensburg. Her career best is 12-5 ½ / 3.75 meters.


Complete results from the WWU Twilight meet are available here.

NOTE: The sports information offices at Washington State, Western Washington, and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.