Arizona's Barrett and Cal's Maier highlight day 2 of the MPSF championships at the Dempsey...
Barrett, the world's second ranked high jumper this indoor season, and the current collegiate leader at 6-5 1/2 (1.97m) eclipsed her own meet record of 6-3 1/2 (1.92m) as she went one centimeter better, finishing with a best of 6-4.
The Wildcat junior took three good shots at 6-6 1/4 (1.99m), but was unsuccessful, though she was close on two attempts.
"I was a little nervous heading into this meet because we changed my approach from ten steps to eight steps and doing that can make or break you," Barrett said. "I'm just glad it worked out well for me. I'm getting more and more comfortable and I'm ready to go for the collegiate record at the NCAA Championships, that's all I'm thinking about."
In the women's 3000, Maier won in a mild upset over Oregon's Jordan Hasay, the defending NCAA champion at that distance.
Maier led for most of the race before relinquishing the lead to Hasay with less than a lap to go. In a reversal of Friday night's distance medley relay, where she was outkicked by Washington's Katie Flood, Maier fought back and surprisingly passed Hasay on the inside in the final 60 meters to take the win in 9:02.35 to Hasay's 9:03.95, getting the meet record of 9:08.15 in the process.
Defending MPSF champ Megan Goethals of the University of Washington was relegated to third in 9:08.42, but earned an automatic NCAA qualifying mark.
Arizona's Julie Labonte set an MPSF Championship record, winning the shot put competition with a throw of 58-7.5 (17.87m), which also was a new facility record, besting Jill Camarena's old mark of 58-3 (17.75m).
Another Wildcat, distance runner Lawi Lalang clocked a time of 7:44.48 in the men's 3000, winning the race by 7.07 seconds. That mark is a personal best, school record, MPSF Championship record, the No. 2 time in the country this year and the No. 5 collegiate mark all-time.
Washington State's Stephan Scott-Ellis' bid for two victories fell just short as Arizona State's Chris Benard jumped 53-11 (16.43m) to set a new meet record. Scott-Ellis finished in the runner-up position in 52-1 3/4 (15.89m).
The Cougars' Joe Abbott tried to make a late charge at BYU's Miles Batty in the men's 800, but fell short as Batty, the new collegiate record holder in the mile, held on for the victory in 1:49.17, while Abbott was clocked in 1:49.47.
Michael Bolligar from WSU captured third place in the men's heptathlon with 5,406 points. He ended the first day's competition in second place and after the 60m hurdles (8.83) was in fourth place but moved up to third after pole vaulting 14-1 1/4 (4.30m). Bolligar ran the 1000m in a time of 2:39.43.
UCLA's Marcus Nilsson won the hept with 5700 points while Oregon's Dakotah Keys was second with 5,660 points.
In the women's team competition, Stanford took the win with 125 points, followed by Arizona at 110, and Oregon third with 108.33.
The Huskies were fifth with 56 points, and Washington State was tenth with 13 points.
In the men's team race, Arizona State won with 131.5 points, followed by Stanford at 81.5, and Oregon in third with 77 points.
Washington State was sixth with 61 points, while the Huskies finished eighth at 37.5 points.
Complete results from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships are available here.
NOTE: The University of Washington, the University of Arizona, and Washington State University contributed to this report.
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