Head Coach Wayne Phipps said his Washington State Track & Field team didn’t accomplish everything it set out to last weekend at the Stanford Invitational, but it was junior CharLee Linton who ran a school record in the women’s 10,000m.

Linton ran the race in 34:03.69, good for 11th place. She said Phipps gave her a slower pace than she wanted because he knows she gets a little too excited in races. The pace paid off, as Linton ended up running faster in the second half the race than the first.

Phipps said he knew Linton had a good chance at the record, but he wasn’t expecting her to break it by as much as she did. The previous record was 34.25.63, set by Anna Blue in 2003.

“She ran an aggressively smart race, and her strong finish suggests she has the ability to go even faster this year,” Phipps said.

Other good performances on the women’s team were turned in by Redshirt junior Candice McFarland and sophomore Danielle Darden also performed well at the Invitational. McFarland finished seventh in the women’s 400m hurdles with a time of 13.94 seconds, and Darden had solid times in the 100m and 200m dashes.

For the men’s team, junior Matt Wardell hit a PR in the shot put, throwing for 53-feet 8.5 inches – 6th  place in the event. Fellow junior Terrance Chambers ran a 200m dash in 21.49 seconds and recorded a fourth place finish.

Phipps said the squad ran into some bad luck with illness and negative wins, but that didn’t stop the Cougars from turning in some solid individual performances. He said Brad Stevens is throwing the javelin well, and fans should keep an eye on him getting close to the freshmen school record.

Next weekend, WSU will travel to Tempe, AZ, for the Arizona State Sun Angel Classic, while other members will be in Spokane for the Spokane Community College WAR VIII meet.

Reporting by Beau Baily