(Spokane, Wa.) - The Sasquatch track and field teams competed in the Whitworth University Last Chance meet on Wednesday, May 11th at the Boppell track. This was the last regular season meet of the season and gave the team one more chance to qualify for the NWAC Championships that take place on May 23rd and 24th at Mt Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. The 2022 Championship will be the first post season meet for the NWAC in two years and the fields look loaded with talent for this edition.
Picking up event wins for the women was Charlotte Falstad in the 3k steeplechase. Running in this event for the first time all season and in her career, Falstad easily qualified for the conference championships and will enter the meet with the fourth best time in the conference at 14:07.70. Despite suffering a serious leg injury earlier in the week, Falstad showed great determination in completing this grueling event, one of the toughest on the track.
Maddie Gebers won the women’s high jump with a new season best of 4 feet and 10.5 inches. This moves her into the number three spot on the conference performance list. Gebers also picked up the win in the women’s javelin.
The next hardest event on the track saw Miranda Irwin pick up the win in the 400-meter hurdles. Irwin ran solo in this event and ran an outstanding race, which looked to be in position for her best time of the year. A pesky last hurdle slowed her up slightly and she finished in a respectable 1:11.15.
On the men’s side, Jon Watkins continues his season of excellent running with another win in the 400-meter running a quality 49.87 seconds. Watkins remains ranked third in the conference.
In the 200-meter, Jake Schnatter picked up a solid win with his best time of the season in running 22.58 seconds. Schnatter will have a very busy NWAC meet and will likely see action in the 200-meter, long jump, triple jump as well as both the 4 x 100-meter and 4 x 400-meter relays.
Another one of the best runners in the conference, Anthony Carlasicio also made his debut appearance in the 3k steeplechase and turned in a fine performance while competing the event solo. Carlascio’s time of 9:48.48 is the fastest in the conference this season by over forty seconds. Carlascio is highly ranked in a number of distance events and will likely have a very busy championship meet, too.
Isaiah Cunningham picked up the win in the men’s triple jump leaping out to a season and lifetime best of 40 feet and 8.25 inches. In what amounted to a very clutch performance, Cunningham had difficulty in his first two jumps, but then switched boards and consistently jumped farther on each attempt reaching his best on his very last jump and qualified for the conference meet in the process.
Making his first meet of the season was recently added basketball player Michael Byers. Working out with the team over the last month Byers ran a very strong showing in the 400-meter running a very respectable 51.62 seconds and finishing second to teammate, Jon Watkins. Byers punched his ticket to the conference meet and will likely also earn a spot on the 4 x 400-meter relay as well.
Jaxson Nichols also reached new heights in the high jump after a stellar week last week in Montana where he cleared 6 feet and 4.75 inches. Nichols won the men’s high jump with a season best leap of 6 feet and 5 inches which moves him into a tie atop the conference high jump list. Nichols has had several good looks and attempts the past two weekends at 6 feet and 6 inches or higher, and has his eyes set on those marks.
Already the conference leader in the discus, Bradley Fillis continues to demonstrate his ability to reach new heights each weekend. The two-time conference athlete of the week this season picked up the win in the discus with a new season and personal best throwing 154 feet and 11 inches. Earlier in the day Fillis topped the field in winning the hammer throw just under his season best hitting a very solid 171 feet. Look for Fillis to be at the top in several events at the conference championships.
Also improving week after week was Reise Raymond in the javelin throw. Raymond hit a new season and personal best with a throw of 164 feet and 1 inch, which moves him up to sixth place going into the conference meet at Mt Hood. Reise had an outstanding series of throws with three throws over the 160 feet mark. The Sasquatch javelin crew has four athletes ranked in the top ten and look to score a number of points in this event during the championships.
The outdoor regular season is completed. Up next for the squads over the next ten days is a well-deserved time of rest and putting the final practices together heading into the NWAC championships. It’s been an outstanding year for the teams so far and the best is yet to come.
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#Men's Track and Field
#TrackField
#Women's Track and Field