The Cougs had another great showing on the track this weekend. The team was split between two meets. The sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the New Mexico Team Open. The long-distance runners traveled across the state to Seattle for the UW Invitational. 

After this weekend, the Cougs have three runners ranked in the top 30 for various events in the NCAA. 

To start the weekend, graduate student Mitch Jacobson took first in the high jump with a jump of 2.11 meters. This was his second consecutive, first-place finish in the event. The last one being last weekend at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open on Jan. 22. Jacobson is now ranked No. 25 in the NCAA for high jump. 

Another graduate student, Sam Brixey, also had a standout performance. Brixey ran a 6.81 in the 60-meter hurdle event, which was fast enough for a second-place finish. This would also mark his time of the season and also now ties him for the 16th fastest time in the D1 track world. 

Junior De’Antae Choates also had a personal record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.95. 

Ben Chappell had yet another standout meet in the throws competition. He set a new personal record in the weight throw. Chappell threw a 17.71-meter mark to win fourth in the event. The freshman from Oakdale, California, earned his third top-five finish of the season. 

The WSU women recorded five top-five finishes in New Mexico. Junior Skyler Walton added a first-place finish to her resume, winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.81 seconds. This is Walton’s personal best in this event. 

Moving on to the women’s high jump, junior Aislinn Overby took the third-place finish with her season-best 1.75-meter mark. This is now her third, top-three finish in the last three meets. 

Senior Anna Rodgers placed fourth in the women’s long jump with a personal record of 6.02 meters. Sophomore Atonia Buschendorf placed fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.67 seconds.

In the men’s 200-meter, sophomore Jared McAlvey finished 11th. Teammates sophomore Ethan Willems finished with a time of 22.38 seconds for 14th place and graduate student Nick Johnson finished with a time of 22.49 seconds for 16th place. 

This proved to be another great weekend for graduate student Colton Johnsen, who is now one of the best long-distance runners in all of Division-1 track. Johnsen finished fourth in the 3,000-meter event with a time of 7:54.78, one second behind his personal best. He is ranked 25th in the NCAA in the event. Johnsen is now ranked 13th in the 5,000-meter event with a time of 13:34.75. He is also ranked fifth in the NCAA in the mile event, with a time of 3:55.74. 

Fellow graduate student Zach Stallings finished fifth in the mile with a time of 3:59.04. This was also one second behind his personal best. 

The Cougs are coming back to eastern Washington for another home meet in Spokane at the new indoor track complex The Podium for the WSU Invitational on Feb. 3-5. The WSU Open will take place on Feb. 4 at The Podium as well. 

For more information about these next couple of meets, check out the WSU athletics website.