Track and field rolls at both weekend meets

WSU racks up eight total first-place finishes in two events in Spokane, Los Angeles

Then-sophomore+Mitch+Jacobson+clears+the+bar+in+the+high+jump+at+the+WSU+Indoor+Meet+Jan.+19%2C+2019+at+the+Indoor+Practice+Facility.+

ABIGAIL LINNENKOHL | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE

Then-sophomore Mitch Jacobson clears the bar in the high jump at the WSU Indoor Meet Jan. 19, 2019 at the Indoor Practice Facility.

DANIEL SHURR, Evergreen reporter

WSU outdoor track and field split up their team once again by sending 19 athletes to the WAR XIV in Spokane, Washington and four to the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational in Los Angeles.

The first of the two events was an all-day meet hosted by UCLA at Drake Stadium. The Cougars sent seniors Stephanie Cho, Emmanuel Wells, Sam Brixey and Nick Johnson to compete in their respective events.

Cho kicked things off in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. She ended up finishing second in the event with a time of 59.32 seconds.

Wells took home first place in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.26. He was less than 0.3 seconds shy of the event record.

WSU wrapped up with Brixey and Johnson competing in the 110-meter hurdles. Brixey finished in first place in 14.03 seconds with Johnson right behind him at 14.83 seconds.

The WAR XIV was an all-day event on Saturday that saw WSU rack up multiple first-place finishes, as the Cougars won six different events.

The competition started with freshman Jared McAlvey taking first place in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.82 seconds.

Sophomore Geneva Schlepp followed it up with a win of her own by dominating the women’s 1500m race, running a time of 4:53.07. Schlepp crossed the finish line seven seconds before the second-place finisher.

Freshman Caroline Jerotich clinched first place in the women’s 5000m race with a time of 17:56.23, with the second-place finisher coming in over half a minute behind her. Senior Zak Kindl finished fifth in the men’s 5000 with a 15:31.57.

Freshmen Ethan Martin and Cooper Cortinas participated in the men’s 1500-meter race, where Martin placed fifth with a 4:06.10 and Cortinas seventh with a time of 4:09.69.

Junior thrower John Kolb took first place in the men’s discus throw with a recorded distance of 55.65m. Freshman Joseph Jensen claimed second place in the event at 47.89m.

Freshman thrower Carolina Ulloa-Daza, who has already been breaking records this season, tossed the hammer 56.24m and claimed first in the event. Junior Sasha Korolenko earned third place in women’s hammer throw with a mark of 53.47m.

Freshman Tara Koonce and sophomore Amy Kraemer also participated in the hammer throw. Koonce recorded a distance of 49.35m and Kraemer 47.83m.

Junior Marty Munyon threw for the men and saw a distance of 51.88m in the men’s hammer throw competition.

Senior Lovely Tukuafu and freshman Julia Parra were the only Cougar athletes to throw shotput. Tukuafu threw for 12.22m and Parra a mark of 11.98m.

WSU still has three more trips to Spokane for outdoor track and field competition season ends and the Cougars head to the Pac-12 Championships.

The Cougars will split their team again, with some voyaging to Azusa, California for the Bryan Clay Invitational. The other group will be in Spokane once more for the Sam Adams Classic.