The sasquatch men and women opened the 2023 NWAC track and field season on Saturday March 4 at the University of Puget Sound’s Ed Boitano Invitational.
Despite the cold and wet conditions, the teams got off to a good start for the year. It began on Friday afternoon with the hammer throw portion of the meet being held on the campus of Pacific Luther University in South Tacoma.
Dan Close, Ryan Dewey, Samantha Emigh, Faith Wersland, Isabella Carpenter, and Madison Fager all competed in this competition with each setting season bests. Carpenter lead the way on the women’s side with an eleventh-place finish overall throwing 115’ 3”. Dan Close led the men finishing in ninth place and qualifying for the final with a throw of 127’ 5”.
The distance crew were the stars of the meet on Saturday. Gideon Swanson and Luke Hurd both recorded lifetime bests in the 10k run, the first event on the track running 33:18.90 and 34:19.86 respectively. For Swanson it was a sixteen second improvement from the same race in 2022 and gives him the NWAC leading mark in the event so far. Hurd’s time currently ranks second in the conference.
In the men’s 5K Kiler Borg turned in the second fastest time of the early NWAC season running 16:42.69.
Stealing the show were Sophia Ferraro, Charlotte Falstad, Sydney Burke, Camille Ussher, and Tabitha Koscielski. In a breakout race for Sophia Ferraro she finished second overall in the 5K run with an outstanding early season time of 19:45.95. This gives her the second-best mark in the conference. Sophia was followed closely in the 5K by Falstad in third and Burke in fifth place. Currently they rank second, third and fourth on the NWAC performance list.
In the 1500m race Ferraro was again the team leader with an outstanding race and fast time of 5:08.57 which ranks her at the top of the conference list. Falstad’s time of 5:14. 36 has her number three on the list. Also running a solid race was Koscielski in the 800 m race recording a time of 2:36.60 giving her the second fastest time in the conference so far.
Also recording marks and distances that ranked in the top three on the NWAC performance list coming out of this meet were; Madisen Douglas in the 400m with a time of 1:04.82, Miranda Irwin in the 400m hurdles running 1:12. 21, Sierra Harden and Morgan Burt in the pole vault with jumps of 8’ 10.25” each, Calli Short in the long jump with a leap of 14’ 8.50”, Saira Schoener in the same event jumping 13’11.75”, and Isabella Carpenter in the discus throw with a mark of 108’.
On the men’s side, team captain Jaxson Nichols had the highest finish of the day in the high jump, winning the event with a leap of 6’ on his first attempt then passing to 6’ 4” for his final three jumps of the day. Earlier in the day Nichols was the event runner up in the men’s long jump with a leap of 20’11.75”. These marks give him the early season lead in the high jump and the number three effort on the conference long jump list.
Other men earning top three or higher spots on the NWAC list were; Maxamus Richmond in the men’s 400m dash with a mark od 52.47, Darian Slack in the 1500m running 4:40.22, Cameron Galbreath in the 400m hurdles running 1:00.41, and Reise Raymond in the javelin throw with a toss of 162’ 5’
Up next for the track squads will be the Sam Adams Invitational hosted at the Pine Bowl on the Whitworth University Campus. This meet will mark the debut of the newly resurfaced track that features one of the only Mondo Track Surfaces in the Northwest. Mondo is the exclusive track surface used in all of the Olympic track and field competitions for the last thirty years. It should provide some outstanding performances.
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#Men's Track and Field
#Women's Track and Field