Meet Results
ELLENSBURG (Apr. 16) -- Senior Torrie Self (Kent/Kent-Meridian HS) unleashed a stadium-record throw in the women's hammer, and the Central Washington University men's and women's track and field teams swept titles at the Spike Arlt Invitational held Saturday at a blustery Tomlinson Stadium on the CWU campus.
The Wildcat men cruised to a 114-point victory over Spokane Community College, while the women edged out conference rival Seattle Pacific University by 12 1/2 points.
Self won the hammer with a top throw of 181 feet, 2 inches on her second toss of the day, topping the previous stadium record of 177 feet, 1 1/4 inches by Jennifer Dunkin of Western Oregon at the 2003 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. Self's toss was more than 23 feet ahead of teammate Jordan Stueckle (Selah) to win the event, but it was 14 inches shy of her personal best this season. It marked the fourth time this season that she has surpassed the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standard in the event.
Teammate Katharine Lotze (Benton City/Kiona-Benton HS) also set a stadium record on Saturday, winning the triple jump with a best mark of 11.80 meters (38 feet, 8 3/4 inches). That mark was also a season's best and improved upon her previous provisional national-qualifying mark.
Aside from Self and Lotze's performances, one other women's meet record was set Saturday, as Western Washington's Sierra Brisky finished the 10,000 meters in a meet record time of 39:14.7, more than 90 seconds faster than the previous Spike Arlt best in the event three years ago.
Central's women took a narrow lead over SPU into the final event, the 4x400-meter relay, and used fourth- and fifth-place finishes by its "A" and "B" squads to preserve the team victory with 203 1/2 points to the Falcons' 191.
Overall, the Wildcats had eight individual winners and three first-place finishes among the four relay races on Saturday. Five of the first-place results were on the women's side, including four in field events. In addition to Self's hammer win, she was second in the discus throw, and fellow thrower Shaina Afoa (Anchorage, Alaska/A.J. Dimond HS) led a strong contingent in the shot put with a winning mark of 12.57 meters (41 feet, 3 inches). The Wildcats finished first, second, fourth, and fifth in the shot. Lotze and freshman Becca Clark (Meridian, Idaho/Meridian Medical Arts Charter HS) added field-event wins, as Clark took the pole vault on a judge's decision over two others with identical marks of 3.50 meters (11 feet, 5 3/4 inches).
Central's men had a dominant team performance in distancing themselves from second-place Spokane CC. The Wildcats had just three individual winners on the men's side -- by sophomore Scott Morrison (Hoquiam) in the 400 meters (49.83 seconds), by freshman Nathan Power (Burlington/Burlington-Edison HS) in the 800 meters (1:58.49), and by junior Manuel Santos (Yakima/A.C. Davis HS) in the 10,000 meters (32:43.8). Morrison also finished a close second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.49 seconds, and was the anchor leg on the men's 4x400-meter relay team that capped the day with a victory.
The Wildcats swept the men's relay races, taking the 4x100 race in 43.17 seconds while also winning the 4x400 event in 3:29.85.
Overall, three new meet records were set on the men's side, including two that were previously established 13 years ago. Ryan Weidman, competing unattached, won the javelin with a meet-record throw of 67.29 meters (220 feet, 9 inches), nearly six feet further than the previous meet record, while another unattached competitor, Cameron Moore, broke the meet record in the triple jump with a best mark of 14.78 meters (48 feet, 6 inches). Carter Comito of Whitworth threw 59.41 meters (194 feet, 11 inches) in the discus, breaking the previous meet record by 14 feet and winning the event by nearly 25 feet.
Central Washington has three weeks remaining to prepare for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held May 13-14 at Monmouth, Ore. The Wildcats is expected to send athletes to two meets next weekend, visiting the Oregon Relays in Eugene, Ore., or to the WWU Twilight Meet in Bellingham.
