Cougs open with solid marks in Albuquerque; J Hopkins runs second best 400h time by American indoors...
Leading the Cougar women in field events, sophomore Kelsey Bueno from Kent, was the runner-up in the pole vault with a lifetime-best clearance at 12-feet, 3 1/2 inches (3.75m); the ninth-best mark in school history. Mary Barnett (claimed third place in the shot put with a season-best throw of 44-6 3/4 (13.58m). Christine Rice tied for third in the high jump after clearing the bar at 5-6 (1.68m).
The Cougar men made noise on the track with Jacob Sealby's 400m dash time of 47.85 being a PR for the sophomore from Wenatchee and the second-best on the day.
The WSU men's 4x400m relay team of J Hopkins, Sealby, Brandon Dawson and Rashaun Dawson ran a time of 3:18.03 for second place.
Friday night's opening session was highlighted by J Hopkins (above/photo courtesy WSU Athletics), who ran the fastest time ever recorded on American soil in the rarely contested 400 meter hurdles indoors, winning in a time of 52.27
Some research by paulmerca.blogspot.com revealed that his mark is the 11th fastest time ever in this event, and is the second fastest recorded by an American, only behind Reuben McCoy's mark of 49.78, set last year in Birmingham, UK.
2004 Olympic champion Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic holds the world best in this event at 49.73.
UPDATE (January 24th) Courtesy of the University of New Mexico, here is video of the race:
And here's another view of the race, courtesy of Washington State University:
The current all-time list in the indoor 400 hurdles is available here at 4hindoor.fr.
Complete results from the Cherry & Silver Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information office at Washington State University and 4hindoor.fr contributed to this report.
Comments