Cougs win hurdles, javelin, relay, triple jump …

By Communications staff, Washington State University
 
 
WSU Senior Jeshua Anderson wins 400m hurdles
TUCSON, Ariz. — Washington State’s Jeshua Anderson won the men’s 400m hurdles with a school record, meet record and stadium record time of 48.13 seconds Saturday night at the Pacific-10 Conference Track and Field Championships at the University of Arizona’s Drachman Stadium.
 
Anderson, a senior from Woodland Hills, Calif., ran a commanding race and sliced 34/100s second off his previous school record time. Anderson became the eighth man in history to win four consecutive conference championships. J Hopkins (junior, Everett) finished fourth in the hurdles final with a personal record time of 50.99, the 10th fastest hurdles time in WSU history. Dana Wells (sophomore, Tieton, Wash.) took fifth place with a time of 51.50. The Cougars scored 19 points in the intermediate hurdles. Earlier in the evening, Anderson ran to a fourth place finish in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.88.
 
Anna Layman (senior, Spokane Valley) won the women’s 800m run in a lifetime-best time of 2-minutes, 3.48 seconds, grabbing the win by out-leaning Arizona senior Christina Rodgers (2:03.52) at the line. WSU’s Courtney Zalud took eighth place with a time of 2:11.14. Layman’s Pac-10 title time is the second-fastest in school history.
“From the gun I was committed to staying with Christina Rodgers for the first 700 meters and take my chances of passing her with 100m meters to go,” Layman said. “All year long I knew this was how it was going to go because she is a tough runner and I knew she was going to take it out fast. So if I could just be mentally tough and go with, I would have a chance.”
 
Marissa Tschida (pronounced cheetah) won the women’s javelin for the second consecutive year on Friday night. Tschida, a senior from Missoula, Mont., successfully defended her Pac-10 javelin title with a season-best and national-leading throw of 183-feet, 9 inches (56.02m). Cougar Courtney Kirkwood (junior, Othello, Wash.) pulled herself up from fourth place to third with her final throw of the day, a distance of 166-7 (50.79m). Tschida was the leader throughout the competition but threw her winning distance in her sixth and final attempt.
 
“I was happy to get that throw out there. It’s been right there trying to come out for a while and it felt great,” Tschida said. “Not my most consistent day, but a great day none-the-less.”

The Cougar men’s 4x100m relay team of Greg Hornsby, Nate Washington, Brett Blanshan and Marlon Murray won the conference title with a time of 39.48 seconds, the second-best time in WSU history. About 80 minutes later, Murray took third place in the 100m dash with a PR time of 10.44 and Washington placed eighth with a time of 10.62. Washington then ran the 200m dash and placed sixth with a time of 21.13.

Stephan Scott-Ellis, a sophomore from Tacoma, won the triple jump with a PR leap of 52-feet, 2 inches (15.90m), the 10th-best triple jump in school records. Scott-Ellis, who finished fifth in the long jump Friday with a PR distance, only had two measured triple jumps Saturday, with the winning effort coming on his fourth round try. Sean Wilson placed 11th in the event with a distance of 47-11 1/4 (14.61m).

WSU men’s 4x400m relay squad of Brandon Dawson, Washington, Jacob Sealby and Anderson finished second with a time of 3:06.40, the fourth-fastest 1600m relay time in school history.

Joe Abbott finished fourth in the men’s 800m in a time of 1:48.97. Matt Cronrath finished sixth in the men’s 1500m with a time of 3:48.80, David Hickerson was ninth (3:52.16) and Todd Wakefield 10th (3:53.90).

John Brenteson took sixth place in the men’s pole vault after clearing a PR height of 16-3 1/2 (4.97m) after struggling at the first two heights of 15-3 3/4 and 15-9 3/4.
On the track, the WSU women’s 4x100m relay team of Shaquana Logan, Chanel James, Cindy Robinson and Morgan Clem finished sixth in a season-best time of 45.38.

Shawna Fermin ran a lifetime-best and the second-best time in school history with her time of 53.22 for fifth place in the 400m dash.

The Cougar women finished fifth in the 4x400m relay as Fermin, Logan, Layman and Veronica Elseroad-Wall ran a season-best time of 3:40.22.

In the high jump, Christine Rice cleared 5-8 1/2 (1.74m) for sixth place and Holly Parent cleared 5-6 1/2 (1.69m) for eighth place.

Cougar women competing Saturday but not scoring included Ashley Kenney (discus – 10th, 143-0 /43.60m), Candace Missouri (triple jump – 10th, 38-10 1/4 /11.84m), Shantae Young (triple jump – 11th, 38-10 1/4 /11.84m), Bianca Walton (triple jump – 14th, 37-3 /11.35m), Ruby Roberts (5000m – 17th, 17:25.71), Chelsea VanDeBrake (5000m – 27th, 17:45.39), Allison Clark (5000m – 32nd, 17:48.29), and Caroline Austin (5000m – 34th, 18:12.48).

WSU men who competed but did not score included Brandon Dawson (400m – 9th, 47.97), Andrew Gonzales (5000m – 19th, 14:49.15), Jono Lafler (5000m – 22nd, 15:00.20), and Joe Bartlett (discus – 9th, 166-1/ 50.89m).

Oregon edged out Arizona for the women’s team title with 154.5 points to 150. The women’s teams followed in order: Arizona State 121, USC 103, Stanford 97, UCLA 51.5, Washington State 49, California 42, Washington 37, and Oregon State 12.

Oregon also won the men’s team championship with 129, followed by Arizona 111, USC 99, UCLA 99, Arizona State 99, Stanford 89, Washington State 85, Washington 81, California 27, and Oregon State 8.

The delayed, packaged broadcast of the Pac-10 Championships will be aired in the Northwest on ROOT Sports Net Thursday, May 19 at 5 p.m.

The NCAA Preliminary Rounds are scheduled for May 26-28 at Hayward Field in Eugene.

Shawn Swartz (redshirt sophomore, Port Coquitlam, B.C.) finished sixth in the men’s high jump, clearing a season-best height of 6-feet, 11 inches (2.11m). Swartz, juggling chemotherapy treatments for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, was one of only two men to start at the opening height of 6-5 (1.96m). He cleared that height and the next height of 6-7 (2.01m) on his opening attempts, and then made it over the bar at 6-9 (2.06m) on his second attempt. He cleared 6-11 on his first attempt but missed all three attempts at 7-0 1/2 (2.14m). WSU’s Deonta Edwards also cleared 6-11 but finished in 10th place based on earlier misses. Ryan Deese was tied for 15th after clearing 6-9.

Joe Bartlett (junior, Reno) placed fourth in the men’s shot put final with a lifetime-best heave of 58-5 3/4 (17.82m). Bartlett reached his PR on his sixth and final attempt, scoring five points for the Cougar men in the team standings.

“In the last two weeks Joe made the mental transition to wanting to compete in the shot put,” Cougar Associate Coach and throws specialist Debra Farwell said. “He has had good practices and tonight it paid off for him.”

Stephan Scott-Ellis (sophomore, Tacoma) took fifth place in the men’s long jump with a season-best leap of 24-3 3/4 (7.41m). Daniel Blackledge fouled all three attempts in the long jump.

Jeshua Anderson (senior, Woodland Hills, Calif.) began the evening with a 110m hurdles time of 13.78, a PR time, the seventh-best time in school history, and second place in the first heat which advanced him to the final. A little over two hours later, Anderson, the three-time defending Pac-10 intermediate hurdles champion, ran a season-best time of 48.92 in the 400m hurdles; the top time in the prelims and currently fastest in the nation. WSU sends three men to the intermediate finals as J Hopkins ran a prelim time of 51.23, equaling his lifetime-best, for fourth overall, and Dana Wells ran a PR time of 51.54 which was fifth overall. Rashaun Johnson ran a time of 53.22 for 12th in the prelims.

The desert heat took a toll on the distance race finals competitors’ times. Caroline Austin scored for the Cougar women in the 3000m steeplechase with her eighth-place finish in a time of 10:42.59. Ruby Roberts ran a time of 10:57.69 for 11th and Amanda Andrews’ time of 11:21.59 was 14th place. Andrew Gonzales finished ninth in the men’s steeplechase with a time of 9:18.39. Chelsea VanDeBrake ran a 10,000m time of 37:04.38 (12th) and Sarah Bobbe’s 10k time of 37:07.62 (13th) were the final running events for the Cougars.

The Cougar men started the running qualifying events strong with all three 1500m runners are among the 12 advancing to the final. Todd Wakefield (3:52.30) and David Hickerson (3:56.25) qualified on time, while Matt Cronrath (3:57.01), finished fourth in the second heat, and qualified on place.

WSU will have two men in the 100m dash final after Marlon Murray’s non-wind-aided PR time of 10.47 for fifth and Nate Washington’s PR time of 10.51 for ninth sent both to the Saturday final. Greg Hornsby’s time of 10.52 was a legal PR but 10th and Brett Blanshan’s time of 10.55 was also a legal PR mark for 11th of the 27 runners.

Washington came back and qualified for the 200m dash final with a PR time of 20.98 for fifth place in the prelims. Blanshan’s 200m time of 21.28 was 11th in the prelims.
Brandon Dawson qualified for the men’s 400m dash final with a season-best time of 47.06, ninth-fastest of the day. Jacob Sealby’s PR time of 47.16 was 10th overall but he did not advance. Joe Abbott’s 800m time of 1:49.55 was fifth-best in the prelims and he will race again Saturday night.

Shawna Fermin qualified for the women’s 400m dash final with a PR time of 53.97, the sixth-best time of the prelims and the fourth-best time in WSU history. Anna Layman ran the top time in the 800m prelims, a season-best 2:05.54, with Courtney Zalud’s 2:09.46 time ninth place and moves the sophomore into the final.
In women’s field event finals Friday, Mary Barnett threw the shot put 40-5 (12.32m) for 12th place and the Arizona women dominated the event taking first, second, third, fifth and sixth places. Candace Missouri long jumped 18-4 1/4 (5.59m) for 15th place. Kendall Mays pole vaulted 12-0 3/4 (3.68m) for 12th place but Ksenija Marovic did not clear a bar.

In the results for the Cougars who will not run in the women’s track finals, Chanel James ran a PR time of 11.71w in the 100m dash (14th) and Cindy Robinson ran the 200m in a time of 24.32, equaling her lifetime-best (17th). In the 100m hurdles prelims, Shaquana Logan’s time of 13.91 was 10th, Morgan Clem’s PR time of 13.93 was 11th, and Angela Jensen’s season-best time of 13.98 was 13th. Logan later ran the 400m hurdles in a time of 1:00.48 for ninth place, just missing the final. Also in the intermediate hurdles prelims, Veronica Elseroad-Wall ran a time of 1:01.39 for 13th, and Brittnay Crabb ran a time of 1:02.80 for 16th.