Dawgs sweep distance medley relays and get win in women's pole vault at MPSF meet...
SEATTLE--The University of Washington swept both of the men's and women's distance medley relays to highlight day 1 of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor track & field championships at the Dempsey Indoor Facility on the campus of the University of Washington.
The women's team of Eleanor Fulton, Kayla Stueckle, Amy-Eloise Neale, and Katie Knight took the victory in the DMR, as they ran 11:13.99.
Fulton was in the lead for most of the opening 12000 leg, but lost it in the last 300 meters, as Arizona took the lead going into the 400 leg, where Stueckle kept it close.
Freshman Amy-Eloise Neale took command on the 800 leg, and fellow frosh Knight took the baton home for the win.
In the men's distance medley relay, Washington's Meron Simon ran a strong opening 1200 leg, while Quadelle Satterwhite followed in Stueckle's footsteps and kept it close going into the 800 leg, where Derrick Daigre opened it up.
Daigre passed the baton off to Izaic Yorks (above/photo by Paul Merca), as Yorks proceeded to run a 1600 leg of 3:59.5 as they crossed the line in 9:31.82, the 11th fastest time in the NCAA so far this season, and puts them on the bubble for a spot in the national championships in two weeks.
Washington State finished fourth in the men's DMR with a time of 9:53.38.
After opening with a third attempt make at 12-6 (3.81m), Washington's Kristina Owsinski continued her hot streak by winning the women's pole vault with a best of 13-5.75 (4.11m) to best reigning Pac-12 champ Kristine Felix of Washington State (13-5.75/4.11m) and Husky senior Logan Miller at 12-11.75 (3.96m).
Washington's Jax Thoirs finished fourth in the men's pole vault competition, with a clearance of 17-4.5 (5.30m), as Michael Woepse of UCLA took the win at 17-10.5 (5.45m).
After seven events in the women's competition, Arizona jumped to a 31-28 lead over cross-state rival Arizona State. Washington is fourth with 26 points, while the Cougars are 11th with 11 points.
On the men's side, California is the day one leader after six events with 40, followed by Arizona State at 37. Washington is seventh at 15, while WSU is eighth with 14 points.
In Pocatello, Idaho, the Eastern Washington men's squad picked up a historic 1-2-3 finish by Jordan Arakawa, Zack Nielsen, and Jon Buchanan in the 35-pound weight throw.
Arakawa uncorked a throw of 65-8 3/4 (20.03m) to claim his first career Big Sky title. Nielsen (63-9.5/19.44m) and Buchanan (63-5.5/19.34m) each added personal best-throws to grab the other two spots on the podium.
Those marks for Nielsen and Buchanan move them up to third and fourth in all-time at Eastern behind Arakawa and school-record holder David Paul. It also marks just the second time in school history EWU has swept an event since Mike Erickson, Mike Krings and Mike Uhlenkott swept the pole vault at the 2005 outdoor championships.
“Our rich thrower history added a performance tonight that may be the most impressive chapter our thrower’s program has ever experienced,” said head men’s coach Stan Kerr. “The sweep was exhilarating. Everyone on the team was fired up watching this stellar trio take over the competition.”
In the women’s 5,000, Berenice Penaloza (17:54.98), Sarah Reiter (17:56.99) and Catie Arrigoni (17:57.24) placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
In team scoring, the Eastern men sit third with 35 points, and the women are ninth with nine.
In Moscow, Idaho, the Seattle U men finished in sixth place with 44.5 points, while the Redhawk women finished seventh with 22 points at the Western Athletic Conference championships.
Auburn native Shaddye Melu picked up a third place finish in the 400, setting a school record of 48.25 in the process.
Sophie Curatilo was second in the women's mile, running 4:58.93.
Redhawk coach Trisha Steidl said of her team's efforts in Moscow, “This is the best our team has competed at the indoor conference meet during my time coaching at SeattleU. While this completes our 2014 indoor season, it’s a strong foundation on which to build as we prepare for the outdoor season.”
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State, Seattle University, and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.
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