SPOKANE, Wash. – Led by a school record in the shot put, the final tune up for the 2024 Northwest Conference championships went as well as could be expected for Whitworth track and field team on Thursday with several new NWC qualifying marks at the 2024 Whitworth Twilight and Alumni Meet on Boppell Track.
The Pirates got one school record, nearly eclipsed another and established 34 personal records at the meet.
Renee Tiumalu set the Whitworth team record while winning the shot put with a mark of 44'-3.25", just edging the previous record of 44'-3" set by Chloe Quinnett in 2018. The Pirates had the top six finishers in that event, including runner-up Amblessed Okemgbo (41'-2.25").
Okemgbo got her own victory in the discus with a PR of 143'-11", while Devyn Chelin gave the Bucs three winners in women's throwing events by finishing first in the javelin (130'-6").
Briana Tira was the runner-up in the long jump with a personal record distance of 18'-4.5".
The Whitworth women's 4x100-meter relay just missed tying the school record of 47.09 with a time of 47.10, a season-best by nearly .7 seconds. Jordyn Lungo, Amelia Hewson, Isabelle Pereira and Alison Ball moved up the NCAA Division III list to 4th in the nation.
Hewson also finished third in the 100-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 14.47.
Whitworth also got a win on the men's side when Jack Ireton out-leaned teammate Alex Peters to win the 1,500-meter run. Ireton posted a personal record time of 3:59.36 to Peters' time of 3:59.55.
Will Moore nailed a personal record with his runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:33.52). Isaak Akiyama was third in the 800-meter run with a PR of 1:54.47, while Kai Figuiera was fifth (1:55.07).
Eddie Vu finished second in the discus with a PR of 158'-3" and was fourth in the shot put (46'-6"). Cody Wheeler reached a PR with his runner-up finish in the hammer throw (156'-1").
Riley Flanagan (21'-11.5") and Zaanan Bane (21'-2.5") posted season-bests while finishing 4th and 5th, respectively, in the long jump. Bane was also fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.91).
The Pirates will now turn their attention to the 2024 NWC Track & Field Championships, which will take place April 19-20th at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.
