Wildcats Win Four Events in Lumberjack Team Challenge
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Arizona Track and Field had an impressive showing in the Lumberjack Team Challenge, with four Wildcats winning their events and placing in the top 10 in the Pac-12 conference.
Women's high jump dominated the competition as they swept the podium. Talie Bonds won the event with a PR of 1.78m and landed in the top-20 in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12. She was followed by Alexa Porpaczy in second and Diana Ramos in third, both with a final jump of 1.71m.
Trayvion White-Austin put up a fantastic performance in the 60m dash with a PR and a first-place win with a time of 6.71. Fellow 60m dash runner Neysia Howard placed second with her own PR of 7.49. The three 400m runners (Ivan Zaharchenko, Carl Hicks, Isaac Davis) also performed well and placed second through fourth in Flagstaff. All three runners have marks fast enough to place within the top 10 of the Pac-12.
Tanner Kippes broke his collegiate PR with a vault of 5.00m in the pole vault, which is currently good for the third best mark in the conference. Katie Daily also represented the Wildcats on the pole vault with a fourth-place vault of 3.90m, which is currently ties the second-best mark in the conference.
Two newcomers surprised in during the distance events in Flagstaff. Ian and Iker Sanchez Lopez ran almost identical times to finish in the top 10 of the mile with times of 4:06.56 and 4:06.60 respectively. Both times put them in the top 10 mile times in the Pac-12.
A pair of 600m runners placed first in their events. Alisa Lyesina and Tanner Hagstrom, who competed in his first meet of the season, ended with a first place win in their only events of the evening.
"It was a really good weekend for the Wildcats!" said Associate Head Coach Francesca Green, "Coach Lagat was very happy with how the distance athletes were able to compete and was nice to see them open up their season. We had quite a few PR's in all the other event groups and that is always a great thing when you can compete at your best! Our team really has been training hard and it is starting to show through in their performances. The energy, excitement, and team support was contagious and we are looking forward to next weekend!
Next up, the Wildcats will travel back to Lubbock, Texas for the Texas Tech Open & Multis, as well as the UW Invitational and Seattle, Wash.
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