By JOE COLUCCIO, staff reporter
The Central Washington University track and field team rolled down to University of Puget Sound and had an impressive showing at the 19th annual JD Shotwell Invitational.
The men’s team came away with the top spot, tallying a score of 166.5, 20 points higher than the second place team, rival Western Washington.
Among the men’s highlights was a strong showing in the 100 meter dash, with senior Bryan Mack placing second (10.98 seconds) and freshman Kent McKinney placing third (11.02 seconds) Mack and McKinney were also part of the 4×100 meter relay team which finished first in the field with a time of 42.11 seconds, along with sophomore Evan Nystrom and freshman Jordan Todd.
“We are definitely in the phase of our season where we are working pretty hard,” head coach Kevin Adkisson said. “Overall, we are excited with where we are at. Everyone across the board is making progress.”
The women’s team placed third in the event, scoring 89 points. Some of the highlights include junior Becki Duhamel’s first place finish in the shotput with a distance of 42 feet, 9.75 inches, as well as sophomore Taylor Fettig’s first place in the high jump (5.875 feet), being topped off by a one-two-three finish by Fettig (15.61seconds), freshman Allison Deck (16.18 seconds) and freshman Juliana Joy (16.51 seconds) in the 100 meter hurdles.
Adding to the big weekend performance was senior Braden Keller, who simultaneously rewrote the Central and Baker Stadium record books.
Keller, javelin, let loose on his second throw with 222 feet, five inches to crush the previous record of 203 feet, seven inches, which was recorded by Michael Ingman in 2007.
“I was pretty pumped up,” Keller said. “I knew it was a far throw, I had not set a personal record in four years so it was nice to get a new one. I reached my javelin goal. It has been my goal for over four years to get over 200 [feet].”
Keller punched his ticket to nationals with his throw on Saturday, a move that did not surprise his coach.
“Last year he threw a really solid mark, he just missed nationals by a little bit,” Adkisson said. “You could just tell that that was the moment that everything clicked. It is really exciting, especially when someone’s a senior. He punched his ticket and he’ll be in Colorado in May, competing against the best.”
The track team hopes to continue its hot streak with two events coming up this weekend, WAR VI in Spokane and the WWU Ralph Vernacchia Invitational in Bellingham.
“We’re getting into our midseason phase. We are looking for a combination of good competition and good weather,” Adkisson said. “We have some people who are capable of some pretty great performances. We have a number of athletes who can make national marks on any day.”
