The Cougars have been prone to making history this season, and they did it again in the first outdoor Pac-12 dual meet of the year against UCLA. The Cougar defeated UCLA for the first time in a dual meet with a score of 87-75. The men also beat the bruins the Bruins 85-78,

WSU jumped out to an early 5-0 lead by capitalizing on UCLA’s mistakes, when the Bruins dropped batons in both the 400-meter races. 

“That 5-0 switch was a giant momentum changer,” Head Coach Rick Sloan said in a press release. “When you’re chipping away at one and two points at a time and you get a 10-point switch, they lose five and we gain five, it makes a big difference.” 

The Cougar women dominated most of the sprints. Sophomore Dominique Keel ran her way to winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.23 seconds, then finished second in the 100 meter with a time just under 12 seconds. Keel also ran on both winning relays. Junior Erin Allen posted a personal record for the Cougar women, running the 400-meter hurdles in 59.05 seconds. 

The Cougars continued that momentum in the 800-meter races and finished in the top three led by junior Abby Regan, followed closely behind by senior Ruby Roberts, and then redshirt senior Courtney Zalud. Shortly after, the veteran Roberts came from behind to win the 1,500 meter with Regan finishing in third place. 

“When we went 1-3 on the women’s 1,500m, we clinched the win,” Sloan said. “Ruby Roberts and Abby Regan did outstanding jobs with their 800m/1500m doubles and gave the team a big boast.” 

Sophomore Kristine Felix and senior Kelsey Bueno both failed to clear the bar in the pole vault. But junior Celena Ward and sophomore Kelsie Taylor stepped up for the Cougars and kept the points rolling by finishing one-two in the javelin. Senior Shantae Young continued her success in the triple jump, leaping to a personal record of 40 feet and 2 1/4 inches. Sophomore Katie Dean earned a new personal record in the long jump of 18 feet and 9 1/4 inches to finish second, followed by redshirt senior Shaquana Logan in third. 

Sloan said Young did a great job of jumping over 40-feet in the triple jump. 

The men jumped out to a sizeable lead in the hurdles with senior Josiah Sims winning the 110-meter hurdles in 14.56 seconds and redshirt junior Garrett Gerling not far behind, coming in second place. Freshman CJ Allen, in his college debut, won the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 52.20 seconds. 

Redshirt junior Jesse Jorgensen, who is coming off an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, started his outdoor season strongly, and captured second place in the 800 meter with a personal record time of 1:49.27. 

The sprinters were led by sophomore Andre McBride’s win in the 100 meter in just 10.66 seconds and 200 meter win in 21.58 seconds. McBride also contributed to the 400-meter relay win. Sophomore Terrance Chambers made a statement in the 200 meter for the Cougars by finishing second and equaling his personal record of 21.74 seconds. 

“We left a lot of points back in Pullman, and some of the people we brought were not 100 percent, but they competed and battled through to get us the wins,” Sloan said. 

The knockout punch to UCLA came when redshirt senior Andrew Kimpel and senior Drew Jordan earned a one-two finish in the 5,000-meter race in what Sloan referred to as a conservative race. 

“This was a great start to our outdoor season, and we need to continue to build on this, get our sick and broken people back, and continue to get better,” Sloan said. 

In the men’s field events, WSU just edged the Bruins with Cougar sophomore Tay’lor Eubanks winning the triple jump with a leap of 49 feet and 1/4 inches and junior PJ Benedictus coming in second jumping 48 feet and 7 1/2 inches. WSU high jumpers sophomore Thane Pierson and freshman Cole Smith were second and third. Pierson added a personal record height of 6 feet and 10 3/4 inches. 

“Our coaching staff had everybody prepared, and we came out and competed like Cougars throughout the meet, “Sloan said. “There were moments when we could have faded and folded but we didn’t. There’s a lot to be excited about.”