Cougs Have Big Weekend In Spokane and Seattle

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Washington State track and field team had a successful first weekend of competition in 2022, as the Cougars racked up five first place finishes at the Cougar Classic Invitational in Spokane, while a pair of distance runners set top-10 times nationally at the UW Preview in Seattle.

Cougar Classic Invitational Recap
Washington State posted five first place finishes and posted a total of nine top-three finishes through two days of competition at the Cougar Classic Invitational at the Podium in Spokane.

The men's track and field came into the new year ready to go and got the weekend started with graduate student Mitch Jacobson finishing first in the men's high jump on Friday night. His mark of 2.13m (6'11.75) is currently the 16th-best mark in NCAA Division I.

As a team, the Cougar men came back to the Podium on Saturday with ferocity. Graduate students Sam Brixey and Nick Johnson finished 1-2 for the second-straight meet in the 60m hurdles. Brixey's first-place time of 7.83 was .01 seconds off his season-best time set back in December at the Spokane Invitational and is currently the 11th-fastest time in the country. Johnson finished right behind him with a time of 7.95.

Graduate student Jacob Englar continued his strong start to the 2021-22 indoor season by taking first overall in the pole vault event with a mark of 5.10m [16-08 3/4]. 

Freshmen Evan Gonzalez and Ben Chappell each recorded top-five finishes in their first meet as Cougs. Gonzalez finished fifth in the 800m with a time of 1:56.25, while Chappell took fourth in the weight throw event with a mark of 57-02 [17.42]. 

The WSU women's track and field team showed up and showed out this weekend recording nine top-five finishes at the Cougar Classic Invitational. 

Senior Emily Coombs got things going for the Cougs by taking first overall in the pole vault event with a season-best mark of 3.90m.

Freshmen Micaela De Mello and Antonia Buschendorf set the track on fire going 2-3 in the 60m hurdles. De Mello recorded a time of 8.53 in her first event as a Coug, while Buschendorf finished behind her with a time of 8.69.  Buschendorf has now placed inside the top-three in each of her first two races in the 60m hurdles this season.

Senior Anna Rodgers continued her winning ways over the weekend, as she remained undefeated at The Podium in the long jump event. Rodgers placed first overall with a mark of 18-09 3/4 [5.73m]. Sticking with jumping events, junior Aislinn Overby tied for second with a season-best mark of 1.70m in the high jump event. 

UW Preview Recap
WSU track and field graduate students Colton Johnsen and Zach Stallings each recorded a top-10 national time in their respective event at the UW Preview on Saturday, Jan. 15 at the Dempsey Indoor facility.  

Johnsen continues his record-setting start to the indoor season by taking second place in the mile. His time of 3:55.74 was just .09 seconds shy of Bernard Lagat's school-record mark in the mile set back in 1999. Johnsen's posted time in the mile at the UW Preview is the second-fastest time in the event in NCAA Division I this season.

Stallings recorded a top-10 national mark in the 3,000m event. His mark of 8:00.10 is the seventh fastest time in the nation. Stallings placed 10th overall in the event, but was the second collegiate runner to cross the finish line.

Coach Wayne Phipps on This Weekends Meets
"It was exciting to have our team back after the break to host our first ever home meet at The Podium; where there was some awesome competition. We had two great meets highlighted by several event wins and nationally ranked performances. Colton Johnsen led the way running the second fastest time in NCAA Division I and the number two time in the world in the mile. His mark also narrowly missed Bernard Lagat's school record. Mitch Jacobson, Zach Stallings, Sam Brixey, Nick Johnson and Jacob Englar were also very impressive and recorded nationally ranked performances. A great restart to our season and we are excited about getting in some great work before our next meets in two weeks."

Next Up
Washington State will take next weekend off before jumping back in action on Jan. 28-29. The Cougars will once again be sending student-athletes to two different meets, as WSU will compete at the UW Invitational on Jan. 28-29 and the New Mexico Team Open on Jan. 29.

For more information on the Washington State track and field team, follow @WSUCougarXCTF on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.