Cougs have four first-place finishers at conference championships

The WSU track
and field teams went to Seattle over the weekend to compete in the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation Championships. The women’s team tied for fifth and
the men’s took home sixth place.

Sophomore
Charisma Taylor, junior Kreete Verlin and seniors Sam Brixey and Emmanuel “RayRay” Wells Jr. led their respective
squads.

Taylor competed
in the triple jump and took home
first place with a leap of 43 feet 7 1/4 inches. She also finished fourth in
the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.29 seconds.

Verlin finished
first in the long jump with a jump of 20 feet 2 1/2 inches. She also took home
fifth in the 60m dash with a time of 7.47 seconds.

Redshirt
senior Stephanie Cho, senior Kaili Keefe, and juniors twin sisters Zorana and
Jelena Grujic finished in fourth place in the distance medley relay with a time
of 11:23.11. The group made history and cemented their names in the WSU
records books by having the fourth best time for this event in school history.

Redshirt
freshman Faimalie Sale finished in sixth place in the weight throw as she tied
for second all-time in WSU history with a throw of 61 feet 6 1/4 inches.

Senior Jordyn
Tucker also made Cougar history by setting the school record in the 60m dash
with a time of 7.43 seconds in the prelims. She finished eighth in that
event after running 7.53 seconds in the finals.

Wells Jr took home one of the first-place finishes for the men’s team in the 60m dash. He had a
time of 6.55 seconds, moving him up to second-place in the NCAA in that event, according
to USTFCCCA.org.

Teammate
redshirt senior Ja’Maun Charles
finished fifth in the 60 with a personal-record time of 6.71 seconds. Charles
also competed in the 200m dash as he finished in sixth place at 21.63 seconds.

Senior Sam Brixey took home first place in the
60m hurdles with a time of 7.75 seconds, and
behind him was teammate senior Nick Johnson who finished second with a time of 7.89 seconds, a personal record.

Sophomore
Jacob Englar took home fifth place
with a time of 17 feet 1 1/2 inches, a personal
record and ninth all time in WSU history for this event.

Redshirt Senior Reid Muller also had a personal record. He finished the mile with a time of 4:02.42, taking
home seventh place.

Redshirt Junior
Colton Johnsen was another top Cougar performer. He finished in third in the
3,000-meter run with a time of 7.59.05.

The next meet
for the Cougars will be the NCAA Indoor Championships. The athletes who qualify
will compete on Friday and Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.