by Kelsey Segren, Sports Information Assistant
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth track and field team hosted 11 teams in the H.I.R. Invitational with many Pirates posting personal bests at the Boppell Track on Friday.
Kolby Blackler highlighted the men's side, beginning with a second-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles (15.02). He improved by .25 seconds to move into a top-10 national position. Blackler then recorded a 43' 0.5" mark in the triple jump for third place in the event, which is tied for second-best in the NWC.
Kainoa Figueira ran the 400-meter in 52.05, a personal best and NWC-qualifying mark for the first-year Pirate. Jesus Gonzalez improved on his 400m time (52.27) in his first meet of the season. Travis Herrera placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles in a career-best 57.49.
Figueira, Nick McGill, Herrera and Blackler won the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:23.27.
Adam Callahan was the top Whitworth finisher in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in 1:58.74 to add another conference qualifier in the event. Joel Mott set a personal record in the 5,000-meter run, finishing in 15:31.89 for seventh place.
McGill placed fourth in the javelin (186' 11") and triple jump (41' 8.75"). Riley Flanagan took fifth in the long jump (20' 10.75").
Luke Davis set a personal record in the discus for the third week in a row, throwing 146' to finish in fourth of 24 athletes. The junior placed seventh in the shot put (42' 7") and hammer throw (147' 9"). Reed Hurst placed sixth (138' 10") in the discus and fifth in the shot put (44' 10.25"). Stephen Haugland finished eighth (128' 2") in the discus and fourth in the hammer throw (156' 9"). Ignacio Garcia finished fifth (151' 1") in the hammer.
Joe Tingstad placed seventh in the javelin (170' 7"), while Benjamin Brinkley took eighth (169' 2").
On the women's side, Amelia Hewson placed second in the 100-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 15.20, the 12th fastest time on the national list. Marisol Delcid ran the fastest 100-meter dash of her Pirate career, finishing in fourth with a time of 13.33. Alison Ball finished fifth in the 200-meter dash (26.24), Hewson placed sixth (26.30) and Jordyn Lungo took eighth (26.53).
Mackenzie Ward posted a NWC-qualifying and personal-best time of 1:02.21 in the 400-meter dash. Erin Pfundt ran a career-best in the 1500-meter run (5:03.52).
Devyn Cope cleared 5' 11" to place third in the high jump and record a new personal best. Cope then finished sixth in the long jump with a 15' 10.5" mark, participating in the event for the first time.
Jamie Copeland placed fourth in the discus with a career best throw of 133', moving up to 12th in the national rankings. AbbieJo Carlson led the Pirates in the hammer throw, finishing in 11th (146' 9"). Keara Simpson threw 36' 6.75" in the shot put, a NWC-qualifying mark.
Coming Up: Whitworth will prepare for the WAR 14 Meet at Spokane Falls Community College (April 10).
