SPOKANE, Wash. – LC State Track and Field competed throughout Friday in day two of the WSU Open, held at The Podium indoor facility. The Warriors continued to show their strength this season with personal-records, school-records and national-qualifying times.
“In general, pleased with results as we had a pretty challenging week with Covid and other bugs going through the team,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “Excited about Clayton's (VanDyke), Brooklyn’s (Shell) and Emily's (Adams) performances in the distance events. Sara's (Hathaway) high jump is exciting along with women's 4x400m relay. Terrell (Lawson) had a great initial heptathlon and will undoubtedly get better. Already excited about next week.”
THE MEN
In a close finish, fifth-year senior Clayton VanDyke placed second in the 800m run with a time of 1:50.53. His time bested his program-record by nearly two seconds and solidified his spot as the fastest in the NAIA in the event this season.
In the second day of the heptathlon for Terrell Lawson, the Clarkston native finished seventh in the 60m hurdles (8.86), 11th in pole vault with a height of 3.20m, and eighth in the 1,000m run (3:08). Lawson finished ninth overall with a national-qualifying score of 4281.
London Kirk had a busy day in The Podium. In a NCAA Division I-heavy field, Kirk tied his 60m dash personal-record in the qualifying round of the event with a time of 7.20. Kirk also had a strong finish in the 400m dash, earning a spot in the top 10 at ninth with a personal-best time of 50.39. In the 200m dash, he was also the fastest non-DI athlete with a 17th place finish (22.46).
Junior Brycen Brown finished 14th in the mile with a time of 4:27. Brown also had a strong race with a 22nd place finish in the 800m run (2:00). Senior Dillon Dawson and freshman Luke Sellmann joined Brown in the mile, finishing 25th (4:39) and 29th (4:52), respectively.
Nik Bertling placed 14th in pole vault clearing a height 4.35m, a career-best for him.
In the weight throw, Jaycob Atencio finished 25th with a mark of 12.79m, and Jack Hardee placed 28th with a throw of 11.94m.
Jaxson Blaker placed 27th in the 400m dash with a personal-best time of 52.73.
In the 3,000m run, fifth-year senior Chase Barrow finished 28th with a time of 8:54. Dawson placed 32nd (8:59) and Sellmann finished 48th (9:45).
The 4x400m relay team of Blaker, Ian Gardom, David Phillis and VanDyke placed seventh with a time of 3:33.
THE WOMEN
Fifth-year senior Emily Adams finished 20th in the 3,000m run with a national-qualifying time of 10:24. Abigail Gorton placed 35th with a time of 11:14 and Madison Howe ran a time of 11:51 to finish 38th.
In the qualifying round of the 60m dash, Anika Grogan beat her own school record by .01 with a time of 7.97. Grogan placed fourth in the round amongst multiple DI opponents.
Sara Hathaway finished 23rd in high jump with a personal-best mark of 1.58m. Chelsie Testa finished 17th in long jump with a career-best mark of 5.18m.
Freshman Madigan Kelly finished seventh in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.12. She has already qualified for nationals in the event.
Junior Brooklyn Shell finished 23rd with a personal-best time of 5:19 in the mile amongst a strong field of competition. Shell also competed in the 800m run, finishing in 31st (2:29). Geraldin Correa was also in action and earned a spot at 20th in the 800m with a time of 2:22.
In the triple jump, freshman Sydnie Zywina finished 12th with a mark of 10.64m. Testa placed 18th (10.22m) and Alexa Horsley had a jump of 9.76m to finish 22nd.
The 4x400m relay team of Grogan, Karlie Smith, Kelly, and Ashley Britt, finished fourth with a time of 3:58.
The Warriors have one last opportunity to compete before the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships held March 3-5. They will be back in Spokane next weekend at the Whitworth Invite.
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