Cougs Record 13 Top-Five Finishes at the McCluskey Open
MOSCOW, Idaho – The Washington State track and field team had a great day at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open Saturday Jan. 22. The Cougs sent 25 student-athletes to the meet and recorded a total of 13 top-five finishes.
"We only competed a few people today, but that group performed very well," WSU head track and field coach Wayne Phipps said. "It was great to have a meet so close to home, at which our student-athletes could work on some technical aspects of their event in a competitive environment."
The Washington State women's track and field team had themselves a day, recording four top-three finishes. Leading the way was sophomore Giovanna Rhoads who placed second in the women's high jump with a personal-record leap of 1.63m. This is the second time in Rhoads' career that she has set a personal record in the high jump at the Kibbie Dome.
Freshman Nana Gyedu had her best performance of the season, as she finished second in the women's shotput. Her personal record of 14.05m was just .20m away from tying Shannon Rance's WSU freshman indoor record set back in 2001.
Junior Jasneet Nijjar and freshman Kolby Weiss each placed third in their respective events. Nijjar posted a mark of 5.42m in the women's long jump and Weiss set her new personal record in the women's pole vault with a leap of 3.65m.
Sophomore Lucas Tailin captured a first-place finish in the pole vault to highlight the day for the Cougar men at the McCluskey Memorial Open. Tailin took first place in the event by clearing 4.67m. It is the sophomore's first career win in the pole vault at a collegiate meet.
Freshman Yanai Macon recorded his first sub seven-second mark of his young career in the 60m dash to claim a fourth-place finish. The Anaheim, California native crossed the finish line in 6.94 seconds.
Next Up
Washington State will once again be sending student-athletes to two different meets next weekend. WSU will compete at the UW Invitational on Jan. 28-29 and the New Mexico Team Open on Jan. 29. Check back with WSUCougars.com for more information on both of next weekend's meets.
For more information on the Washington State track and field team, follow @WSUCougarXCTF on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.