Wazzu sweeps Jim Click Shootout in Tuscon; Stueckle sisters prevail over hurdles, plus Pelluer & WAR 7...
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| Josiah Sims (right) and Daniel Zmuda (left) of Washington State went 1-2 in the 110 hurdles at the Jim Click Shootout in Tuscon (photo by Paul Merca) |
TUSCON, Arizona--In his final season as head coach of the Washington State track & field team, Rick Sloan has found the magic that made the Cougs one of the best scoring meet teams in the country, an area that his predecessor, John Chaplin made famous when he was steering the ship.
The Cougars swept the men's and women's competition in the five-team Jim Click Shootout hosted by the University of Arizona at Drachman Stadium.
The WSU men scored 193 points, easily surpassing No. 17 Arizona’s 133 points and well-beyond Air Force with 99 points, Kansas State with 98 points, and New Mexico’s 76 points. The Cougar women won with 158 points with No.11 Arizona third with 142 points, followed by Kansas State’s 134 points, and both Air Force and New Mexico scored 67 points.
“It was a great job by the Cougs on both sides today,” Sloan said. “It was a nice, warm day with some wind which helped us in some areas but hurt us in some areas like the hurdles races where are kids were blown into the hurdles. With six places scoring we kept battling through the events. In our two scoring meets this season the kids have really come up and competed well.”
Lifetime-best throws led Sam Ferenchak and Kyle Stevens to a one-two finish in the men’s javelin. Ferenchak won with a toss of 222-feet 1 inch (67.70m) and Stevens was second with a throw of 215-5 (65.65m).
On the track, the Cougs benefited from three 1-2 finishes--Josiah Sims (14.26) and Daniel Zmuda (14.34) in the 110 hurdles; Andrew Kimpel (8:32.10) and John Whelan (8:37.47) in the 3000; and Andrew Gonzales (9:14.04) and Forrest Shaffer (9:34.44) in the 3000 steeple.
On the women's side, the Cougars' Courtney Zalud (2:09.01) and Abby Regan (2:09.06) went 1-2 in the 800.
The host Wildcats, who competed in a dual meet with Oregon in Eugene last weekend, sat most of their top distance runners out of the meet, including Lawi Lalang.
In Seattle, Washington's Kimberly and Kayla Stueckle had outstanding performances, with Kimberly winning the 100 hurdles in a personal best 13.87, and older sister Kayla taking the 400 hurdles in 59.85 at the Washington Open at Husky Track on the University of Washington campus Saturday.
The Dawgs' Travis Marshall scored two personal bests in the short sprints, running 10.59, and 21.70 to finish second in both races.
In the women's 100 and 200, Washington State alum Princess Joy Griffey took both races, winning the short sprint in 11.89, and setting a new facility record in the 200, running 23.93.
Western Washington's Frank Catelli took a shot/discus double victory, winning the shot with a best of 56-0 1/2 (17.08m) and the discus at 173-11 (53.00m).
The wind played tricks with the pole vaulters, but that did not keep the Huskies' Jax Thoirs (16-9.25/5.11m) and Diamara Planell Cruz (13-1.75/4.61m) from winning the men's and women's competition.
In Cheney, the University of Montana swept Eastern Washington in the Pelluer Invitational dual meet, winning the men's competition 97-88, and the women prevailing 94.5-84.5.
The best mark of the meet was set by Eastern's Jordan Arakawa, who won the hammer with a throw of 216-8 (66.04m).
On the women's side, the hammer also provided the meet's best mark, as the Eagles' Olivia Midles won with a toss of 195-10 (59.70m).
In Spokane, Seattle University's Dylan Burnett had the top mark of the meet at WAR VII, hosted by Spokane Community College.
Burnett threw the javelin 218-8 (66.66m) to win the event, scoring a season best. The mark was the second best of his career, a throw eclipsed only by his personal best of 231-10 (70.66m) set in 2011 in winning the Great West Conference title.
Central Washington swept both the men's and women's team titles, with their men scoring 108, and their women scoring 104.1.
NOTE: The sports information departments of Washington State, the University of Washington, Seattle Pacific, Eastern Washington, and Seattle University contributed to this report.
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