Eastern Washington school record in long jump broken three times at Sam Adams Invite...
SPOKANE--It's very early in the 2024 outdoor track and field season, but there's already one revelation.
On a warm sunny day at the Sam Adams Invitational, hosted by Whitworth University at the Pine Bowl, Eastern Washington sophomore Kimberly Smith (file photo courtesy EWU Athletics) opened some eyes, as she soared to a mark of 20-7 (6.27m, +1.0mps) to win the women's long jump Saturday, and lead two Eagles over 20 feet.
Behind Smith was Caitlyn "Egypt" Simmons, who jumped 20-3.5 (6.18m, +1.0mps).
In the process, both broke the previous school record of 19-8.25 (6.00m), became the first two in school history to go over 20 feet, and pending the results of other meets around the country this weekend, put themselves in the top ten nationally, at number 4 and 6.
Smith, a sophomore transfer and NCAA outdoor qualifier from Division II Washburn University, took the lead in the first round, breaking the EWU school record for the first time at 19-9.5 (6.03m).
Her school record lasted all of one round, as Simmons, the Big Sky long and triple jump champion went to the lead in round 2 with a mark of 19-10.25 (6.05m).
As in the previous jump, Simmons held the school record for one round, as Smith retook the lead with the eventual winning jump of 20-7 (6.27m).
In the final round, Simmons, the transfer from Hawaii, came close with her best jump of the day of 20-3.5 (6.18m).
On the day, the Eagles earned ten wins on the day, while Gonzaga won eight events, and Washington State six events.
In Tucson, Arizona, hurdlers Maribel Caicedo and Micaela De Mello of Washington State turned in top-ten marks as they went 1-2 in the 100 hurdles at the Arizona Spring Break Fiesta meet hosted by the University of Arizona at Drachman Stadium Saturday.
Going against a -2.3 headwind, Caicedo ran 13.09, while De Mello finished in 13.40, currently the third and eighth fastest times of the young season.
Other top marks included Grant Buckmiller (46.14), who finished second in the men's 400; Jared McAlvey (51.31), who finished third in the 400 hurdles; Caroline Jerotich (10:28.44), who won the women's steeplechase; Ronald Grueso Mosquera (59-10.5/18.25m), who finished second in the men's shot put; and Laura Lindquist (163-8/49.90m), who was third in the women's javelin.
All marks are currently in the NCAA D1 top ten, with Jerotich's steeplechase time the fastest so far this season.
In Corvallis, Seattle University athletes earned four wins at the OSU PNW Invitational at the Whyte Track & Field Complex, hosted by Oregon State University.
Zoe Tibbo led a sweep of the women's triple jump with a best of 37-8.75 (11.50m).
Jamaari Jefferson won the men's long jump with a mark of 22-3 (6.78m).
Jocelyn Garcia won the women's 400 in 60.84, while Gus Harquail won the men's 800 in 1:53.84.
In Tacoma, Central Washington's Ellie DeGroot, Saint Martin's Cassidy Walchak-Sloan and Seattle Pacific's Lizzy Daugherty & David Njeri had NCAA Division II top-5 marks to highlight competition at the PLU Open meet hosted by Pacific Lutheran University Saturday.
DeGroot won the women's 400 hurdles in 61.03, while Walchak-Sloan won the 1500 in 4:33.83. Both are currently number 3 on the NCAA Division II descending order list.
Daugherty won the women's pole vault at 12-6.25 (3.82m), while Njeri won the triple jump at 47-11.75 (14.62m).
Only Daugherty and DeGroot are currently inside the NCAA D2 provisional qualifying standards.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Washington State, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Seattle University, Central Washington, Seattle Pacific, and Saint Martin's contributed to this report.
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