Track and field finishes first meet of season

Cougars now prepare to travel to Arkansas for Arkansas Qualifier on Feb. 5; UW Invitational Feb. 12-13

WSU+alum+Christapherson+Grant+wins+400-meter+hurdles+at+2019+Cougar+Invitational.

JACQUI THOMASSON | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE

WSU alum Christapherson Grant wins 400-meter hurdles at 2019 Cougar Invitational.

DANIEL SHURR, Evergreen reporter

The WSU track and field team opened up their indoor season this weekend with a road trip to Seattle, where they paid a visit to the University of Washington Huskies for the annual UW Indoor Preview.

The event lasted two days and was held in UW’s 80,000-square foot Dempsey Indoor Center, which features a 307-meter track, and 100-yard turf field.

“We had an awesome two days of competition,” director of WSU track and field Wayne Phipps said. “Our student-athletes were very appreciative of this opportunity and took full advantage of it by competing at an extremely high level.”

WSU did indeed compete at an “extremely high level.” Out of the 26 total events, a Cougar athlete placed first in nine, tying the University of Washington who hosted the meet in the number of events won.

Junior Charisma Taylor took first place in the long jump with a height of 5.76 meters, while teammates junior Suzy Pace and sophomore Kaylee Sowle tied for first place in the high jump at 1.7 meters.

Junior Aislinn Overby and freshman Peyton Teevens closely trailed their teammates in the high jump with a height of 1.6 meters.

The men showed off their hops too. Redshirt senior Seth Andres jumped 6.25 meters en-route to a first-place spot in the long jump category. Meanwhile, sophomore Cody Teevens was right behind him with a personal best 6.24 meters, claiming the second-place spot.

Sophomores Colby White and Daylon Hicks recorded the same height of two meters for the high jump. That was high enough for WSU to win that category as well.

On day two, sophomore sprinter Jasneet Nijjar took first place in both the women’s 200-meter and 400-meter dash. Her 200 time of 25.08 seconds and 400 time of 56.11 seconds are both personal records.

Taylor, an All-American, won the 60-meter hurdles with a blazing speed of 8.35 seconds, which ranks her 28th in the nation.

Peyton Teevens posted a personal record in that event as well, coming in just a blink of an eye after Taylor.

Senior Sam Brixey won the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.8 seconds and is now currently ranked seventh in the nation.

The men’s 3000-meter crew had an outstanding day as well, as redshirt senior Colton Johnsen finished the race with a time of 7:56.14. Johnsen, along with senior Zach Stallings, fifth-year Justin Janke, sophomore Brian Barsaiya, and senior Zak Kindl all set new personal records for the event.

All in all, there were eight personal records set on the first day, and 27 set on the second.

“I want to thank the University of Washington, their athletic department, their medical staff, and their track staff for all of their work to provide a safe competitive experience for our student-athletics,” Phipps said. “I would like to thank WSU, our administration, and our medical staff for all of their work to help prepare us for our first competition in almost a year.”

After the Indoor Preview, the team’s best will catch a flight to Arkansas for the Arkansas Qualifier on Feb. 5.

WSU is expected to pay the Huskies at least two more visits by the end of the year, and the Cougars look to keep setting personal records as the season goes on.