SPOKANE, Wash. – The Warriors opened the outdoor track and field season with a pair of automatic qualifiers, four provisional qualifiers and two school records at the Sam Adams Classic, hosted by Whitworth University. Freshmen Jennah Carpenter and London Kirk showed that the future is bright with their records in the high jump and 400m, respectively, and Carpenter and Kea Stieglitz punched their tickets to the national meet.
Along with the athletes that qualified for nationals in this meet, the Warriors saw many athletes come close and show that they are nearing the marks as well. Sara Hathaway was one of those not far from earning her spot with strong marks in three different events (100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, high jump). Cynthia Smith and Nikolous Bertling also put up solid scores in the pole vault.
“This is probably one of the best opening-day meets in my history of coaching here at LC,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “For the first outdoor meet of the season, we probably had more PRs and more national qualifiers, and more really good performances, than I have seen at any one single meet to start the season. I couldn’t be more excited and I am looking forward to coming back here next week when the weather is supposed to be better.”
THE WOMEN
Carpenter opened her outdoor career with a school record and automatic-qualifying mark in the high jump. The Lewiston native and two-sport athlete cleared a height of 1.67m to win the event. Hathaway hit a personal-best to finish behind Carpenter with a mark of 1.59m.
An All-American in the javelin last season, Stieglitz punched her ticket back to nationals with a 40.52m mark in her first attempt to finish third on the day. Carpenter was seventh with a throw of 30.72m.
Madigan Kelly also shattered a program record, following the trend she set in indoor, in the 100m hurdles. She earned a provisional mark for nationals and was second in the race at 14.80. Hathaway held the school record for one heat with a time of 14.84, before Kelly’s race in the second heat. The two are the first two to run the event in under 15 seconds in program history. Ashley Britt was sixth with a personal-best (15.13), also claiming a spot in the LC’s top four.
Britt earned a B mark in the 400m hurdles, winning the event with a time of 1:04.03. Hathaway ran a personal-best time of 1:05.34 to take third, and Kelly was fourth (1:06.96). Keelyn Pilcher also finished in the top 10, taking eighth at 1:09.26.
In the 400m, Anika Grogan ran a personal-best time of 57.03 to win the event. The time is a B standard for outdoor nationals and the second-fastest in program history. Sydnie Zywina was 10
th (1:03.02).
Zywina was in action both on the track and in field events. The freshman tied the second-best mark in program history with a 10.55m leap in the triple jump with win the event. Alex Horsley was fourth at 9.79m.
Grogan won the 200m with a time of 25.83, and Horsley was third with a personal-best time of 26.48. Zwyina was fifth (27.26), Makayla McIntosh was eighth (28.18) and Smith was ninth (28.37).
Emily Adams placed second in the 5000m with a time of 18:19.44 to put her in LC’s top five in the record books.
In the pole vault, Smith and Desiree Winslow finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Smith hit a height with 3.40m, while Winslow posted a career-best at 2.80m.
Rylee Brown and Brooklyn Shell finished ninth and 10
th, respectively, in the 1500m. Brown ran a time of 4:59.42, and Shell finished in 5:01.59. The two were also in action in the 800m, along with Geraldin Correa who placed third (2:21.98). Brown took ninth (2:28.24) and Shell was 11
th (2:35.75).
Cassidy Henderson earned a top-10 finish in the discus with a mark of 29.09m, and Rylie Overton was 12
th at 25.79m. McIntosh finished ninth in the shot put with a mark of 9.07m. Henderson was 11
th (8.35m) and Kenlie Connor was 12
th (7.06m).
LC ran three 4x100m relay teams, with the quartet of Hathaway, Grogan, Carpenter and Kelly finishing second (48.50) to lead the groups. The women’s 4x400m team of Brown, Shell, Correa and Grace McCormick finished fourth (4:24.06).
THE MEN
Leon Menten finished third in the javelin with a throw of 55.16m to hit a B mark for nationals.
London Kirk set the program record in the 400m, winning the race with a time of 49.40. Clayton VanDyke was second (50.75) to also earn a spot in LC’s top five. Jaxson Blaker finished seventh (53.51) and Jon Warwick was 10
th (56.11).
Kirk ran the second-fastest time in LC history, the fastest since 2010, in the 200m with a time of 22.18. He won the event by nearly half a second. Bertling was fifth (23.46) Blaker was eighth (23.75), Warwick finished 13
th (25.17) and Isaiah Richards was 15
th (25.95).
Ike Hopper ran a personal best and won the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.44. Caleb Moore was seventh (16.51) and Christian Bothwell was eighth (16.62). Hopper ran a time of 55.73 to win the 400m hurdles.
VanDyke ran the third-fastest outdoor 3000m in program history and won the event with a time of 8:51.55. Brady Nelson was second in the race (9:33.76) and Cooper Carlson finished third (10:17.68).
In field events, Bertling continued to improve in the pole vault. The senior hit a personal-best mark of 4.65m to finish second. Zayne Maughan was fourth (4.05m). Jaycob Atencio had a career-best throw in the discus with a distance of 34.03m. He finished 13
th. Jack Hardee threw a career-best distance of 10.35m to take 10
th in the shot put before finishing 15
th in the hammer throw (37.32m). Atencio was 14
th (38.63m).
Conner May placed third in the 800m (2:00.74), Dillon Dawson was seventh (2:05.79) and Carter Gordon was 10
th (2:07.55). Dawson finished fourth in the 1500m (4:04.93), while Gordon was ninth (4:10.60). Cole Olsen took seventh in the 5000 (14:53.98), Chase Barrow was 12
th with a personal-best of 15:06.68 and Brycen Kempton was 19
th (15:34.03).
LC had two 4x400m relay teams in action, with the group featuring Gordon, Brycen Brown, May and Kempton finishing second (3:36.49).
The Warriors are back in action in Spokane next weekend at the Bucs Scoring and Multi on March 24-25.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.