BY Chance Weeks-Williams
Staff Reporter
On Saturday April 19, Central Washington University hosted the 20th annual Spike Arlt Invitational meet at Tomlinson Stadium where the sprinters and distance runners put their best foot forward.
On the men’s side, Central took over the 100 and 200-meter dash with 1-2-3 place finishes for each race. In the 100, Kent McKinney and Jordan Todd tied for first with a time of 11.02 seconds. Jonathan Osborne finished third with an 11.08 time.
“We’re just really pleased that we competed well,” head coach Kevin Adkisson said. “We just represented well here at our home track.”
In the 200, Harish Prasad, Scott Morrison and Chayce Sather once again lined up the top three times for Central. Morrison also placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.57 seconds.
Central took both the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relay. The 4×100 team placed with a time of 44.29 seconds which was three seconds better than Puget Sound University, who came in second.
Central Washington almost swept the 110 meter hurdles with Bernari Sternen and Dennzell Mickleson taking first and second with times of 14.58 and 15.4 seconds.
In the long run
John Wojtech, took first in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:01.25 minutes.
In the field events, junior Kevin Stanley won both the hammer throw (54.64 meters) and the shot put (15.05 meters). Another Wildcat, senior Eric Holmstrom, finished second in the shot put (14.82meters). Freshman Isaac Messenger won the triple jump with a leap of 13.52 meters.
In the long jump pit, Messenger and Prasad took second and third place.
For the women’s team, Chelsea Genther and Jasmine Leaptrot-Atkins finished third and fourth in the 100-meter dash.
In the 200 Ashley Harmon finished second with a time of 26.05 seconds. Jayna Inderbitzin took first in the 400 meter with a time of 58.78 seconds.
“It was just a hair under her PR (personal record) from last year. It was great to see her hit that at this time of the season,” Adkisson said.
Tayler Fettig, Chelsea Genther, and Allsion Deck almost completed a sweep with a 1-2-3 place finish. Deck and Julianna Joy finished second and third in the 400-meter hurdle race.
Although no other teams had 4×400 meter relay teams, Central Washington’s A team finished with a 4:07 minute time. However, the 4×100 team finished first.
Distancing themselves
Senior Connie Morgan continues to have a dominant senior season, as she won both the 800 (2:20.95 minutes) and 1500 (4:38.23 minutes) meter runs. Teammate Hannah Dowdell wasn’t far behind Morgan in the 1500, as she placed second with a time of 5:03.46.
Adkisson said Morgan had been running solo for the majority of the race.
“We know that now when she gets into a race that’s competitive, like conference will be, she’ll be ready to hit a really big mark,” Adkisson said.
In the 3,000-meter run Central Washington runners Dani Eggleston and Megan Rogers stole the first two spots.
Tayler Fettig continued her dominance at the high jump beam with a 1.75-meter jump, which was not only enough to win the event, but was enough to qualify for nationals.
The jumpers from Central also won the long jump with a 4.89-meter bounce from Juliana Joy and the triple jump with a 10.62-meter leap from Marinah Bentley.
For the throwers, Becki Duhamel, Dorothy Moore and Sydney Jensen dominated the hammer throw with first, second, and third place.
This weekend the team will head to Bellingham and Western Washington University for the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational.
