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Cougar Women Win, Men Fall Short Against UW In The WSU-UW Dual

Apr 22, 2022

PULLMAN, Wash.— The Washington State women's track and field team claimed victory over the University of Washington at the WSU-UW Dual, as both the Cougar men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Mooberry Track and field for the first time since 2018.

In a tightly contested dual meet, the WSU women's team won the meet, 94-69, and became the first Cougar team to beat the Huskies in the WSU-UW Dual series since 2018. The Cougar women claimed eight event wins on the day in the process.

"It was awesome to be able to host a dual meet at home for the first time in four years," said WSU Track and Field Head Coach Wayne Phipps. "The help and support from the Coug family were amazing. I cannot thank enough all of the people who worked tirelessly to put on such an awesome event. It was a fantastic meet and I was so very proud of the way our teams competed."

Leading the way for the Washington State women's team in its dual meet win was senior Anna Rodgers. The Oregon native had quite the afternoon, as she claimed two event wins. Rodgers set a personal record in the women's long jump with a mark of 6.13m to get an early five points for the Cougs. Her mark ties the eighth-best women's long jump mark in WSU history. As part of the last push to close out the victory for the Cougs, Rodgers recorded another event win in the women's triple jump. The senior leaped a distance of 11.49m, .32 meters better than her previous best mark.

Fans in Pullman got to witness redshirt freshman phenom Micaela De Mello make her Mooberry Track debut. De Mello set a new meet record in the 100m hurdles with her event winning time of 13.22. Her time in the event was .03 seconds faster than the previous meet record, set by UW's Ashley Lodree back in 2006.

The Cougars women's team swept the hammer throw, the high jump, and 400m hurdles en route to their victory over the Huskies.

Sophomore Carolina Ulloa-Daza won the women's hammer with a toss of 58.41m. Freshman Alexandra Payne (55.07m) place second, while sophomore Tara Koonce (54.46m) helped Washington State complete the event sweep by taking third.

Junior Aislinn Overby won the women's high jump with a personal record mark of 1.82m, as junior Suzy Pace (1.72m) and sophomore Giovanna Rhoads (1.52m) placed second and third, respectively.

Sophomore Peyton Teevens (1:01.16), freshman Renee Yang (1:03.47), graduate student Pia Richards (1:11.52) finished one-two-three in the women's 400m hurdles event to add nine more points to WSU's total.

Freshman Valentina Barrios Bornacelli also claimed a win in the women's javelin with a mark of 49.80m. Junior Jasneet Nijjar and sophomore Alaina Stone Bogs added a pair of event wins on the track for Washington State. Nijjar ran a 54.80 in the women's 400m dash to claim first in the event. Meanwhile, Stone Boggs captured first place in the women's 3,000m with a time of 9:40.02 to seal The Dual win for the Cougs.

Both WSU women's relay teams won their race to cap off the meet for the Cougar women on the track. The women's 400m relay team, consisting of De Mello, juniors Skyler Walton, Elise Unruh-Thomas, and Nijjar posted a time of 45.14. Meanwhile, the 1,600m relay team of Yang, Nijjar, Teevens, and junior Elena Willems clocked in at 3:42.12.

The Washington State men's team gave it their all against the Huskies collecting six event wins at Mooberry Track, but ultimately fell short in the WSU-UW Dual, 100-63.

Sophomore Jared McAlvey's efforts on the track did not go unnoticed. He won a thrilling men's 400m hurdles race by .01 seconds, thanks to a last-second lunge at the finish line. His time of 51.59 is also a personal record in the event. He also set a personal record in the 110m hurdle race with a time of 14.65, placing second overall.

The Cougars swept the men's high jump, as graduate student Mitch Jacobson and junior Daylon Hicks each cleared an event-best 2.05m, but Jacobson hit the mark in fewer attempts to give him the win. Junior Taino Ferdinand placed third with a mark of 1.85m.

Senior Joseph Heitman competed in three different events but had his best performance in the men's long jump. He set a personal record by leaping 7.19m to place first overall in the event.

Graduate student Jacob Englar recorded his fourth pole vault event win of the outdoor season by claiming first place with a mark of 5.05m.

On the track, Colton Johnsen won the men's 3,000m steeplechase race with a time of 8:49.94. The men's 1,600m relay team of McAlvey, juniors De'antae Choates, Blake Deringer, and sophomore Ethan Willems, recorded a time of 3:18.14 to win their race.

Next Up
The Washington State men's and women's track and field teams will be heading back down to California to compete in two meets. Friday, April 29, the teams will be in Stanford, California, for the Peyton Jordan Invitational. The team will then make the down Interstate-5 to compete in the Fresno State Invitational in Fresno, California, Saturday, April 30.

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