WSU's Trent Arrivey now among NCAA high jump leaders...


WALNUT, Calif. -- Washington State junior Trent Arrivey (above/photo courtesy WSU Sports Information) cleared a lifetime-best and improved NCAA Regional Qualifying height of 7-feet, 4 1/2 inches (2.25m) Saturday at the 51st Annual Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif.

Arrivey, an All-American high jumper from Woodinville, Wash., soared to tie the fourth-best men's high jump mark in school history with Doug Nordquist (Pullman, 1981). His mark ties the national leader going into the weekend, Matt Fisher from Minnesota.

The news was not all good for another Cougar All-American, Jeshua Anderson. The sophomore from Woodland Hills, Calif., ran a season-best and improved NCAA RQ time in the 110m hurdles of 14.16 seconds for eighth place but later in the day fell in the 400m hurdles. WSU Head Coach Rick Sloan said it looked like Anderson cleared the eighth hurdle but brought it down with his trail foot. He walked away from the track on his own.

Phil MacArthur (senior, Ione, Wash.) threw the hammer an NCAA RQ of 198-6 (60.50m), but he has already thrown 199-5 earlier this year.

The WSU women's 4x400m relay of Princess Joy Griffey, Lorraine King, Brittnay Crabb and Veronica Elseroad-Wall ran a season-best time of 3:43.46. The men's 4x400m relay was scratched.

For the University of Washington, Falesha Ankton placed fifth in the invitational flight of the 100-meter hurdles, setting a season-best and matching her lifetime-best in 13.46 seconds. Ankton finished one spot behind five-time UW All-American Ashley Lodree, who holds several school records including the 100m hurdles. Lodree was fourth in 13.33 seconds.

Freshman high jumper Kelly McNamee equaled her outdoor best with a clearance of 5-8 ¾. In the men's invitational pole vault, sophomore Scott Roth and senior Jared O'Connor both cleared heights well above the Regional mark, though they did not improve on their season-highs. Roth went over 17-4 ½ and O'Connor cleared 17-0 ¾ one day after he went 17-2 ¾.

Additional former Huskies competing at the Mt. SAC Relays included 2008 grad and nine-time All-American Norris Frederick, who took third in the long jump with a leap of 25-feet, 6-inches. Also, former pole vault and gymnastics standout Carly Dockendorf cleared 13-7 ¼ in the women's pole vault invitational.

UW throws coach Reedus Thurmond and his volunteer assistant, Will Conwell, both threw the discus and finished within a few inches of each other. Thurmond's best went 184-10 and Conwell threw 184-3. Conwell is coming off a great 2008 season that saw him place sixth in the discus at the U.S. Olympic Trials, missing the Beijing Games by just a few feet. Also competing in the men's hammer throw was 2007 grad Martin Bingisser, who recorded a best of 207-1.

FRIDAY MT. SAC RECAP

Washington State's Marissa Tschida threw the javelin a school-record distance of 175-feet, 11-inches (53.63m) Friday at the 51st Annual Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif.

Tschida (pronounced chee-tah), a sophomore from Missoula, Mont., was the top collegian but finished second in the women's university/open javelin, an elite field that included several recent Olympians. Her 175-11 toss is an improved NCAA Regional Qualifying mark by over 10 1/2 feet. Tschida shattered the WSU women's record of 169-7 (51.70m) thrown by Jenna Dean in 2005. WSU's Courtney Kirkwood threw the javelin 138-10 (42.33m) for 17th in the same section.

"I knew I could throw over 51 meters and I did it at this meet," Tschida said. "I think I have a better understanding of my form this year. Coach (Deb Farwell) and I are getting on a similar page for what she tells me to do. I understand the technical terms more and I understand exactly what she is trying to get me to do. I can maneuver my body and get it into position. This isn't my final PR."

Reny Follett (junior, Lewiston, Idaho) won the men's university/open 400m dash in a season-best time of 47.48 seconds.

Also on the track, Lisa Egami (junior, Coquitlam, B.C.) finished second and ran an NCAA RQ time in the women's Olympic Development 1500m of 4:22.61, just off her Stanford Invite time of 4:22.57.

Washington junior Anita Campbell and freshman Christine Babcock turned in outstanding runs today that rank among the fastest in school history, highlighting several strong efforts for UW track and field athletes at the Mt. SAC Relays held at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

Both members of UW's national champion cross country squad, Campbell and Babcock turned in two of the best track performances of the season this evening. Campbell ran the second-fastest 5,000-meters in school history, setting a 15-second personal best with a time of 15:45.85 that will put her fourth in the NCAA, matching her standing in the 10,000-meters which she ran three weeks ago.

Campbell now ranks behind only UW legend Regina Joyce, who set a mark of 15:35.60 in 1982. More remarkable is the fact that Campbell is the third Husky this year to run 15:50 for the 5k. At the end of March, Katie Follett ran 15:48.72 and Mel Lawrence went 15:50.36 at the Stanford Invite. Including Joyce, only three Huskies had ever gone under 16-minutes for 5,000-meters prior to this season. The Huskies now boast three of the top-six 5k times in the NCAA this year.

Babcock continued her outstanding freshman season earlier in the day, as she ran the sixth-fastest 1,500-meter time in school history in just her second attempt at the distance.

Competing close to her hometown of Irvine, Calif., Babcock was running on the same track where she set the National High School 1,500-meter record last year in 4:16.42. She was just a fraction of a second off that time today, crossing the line in 4:16.50.

In the men's 1,500-meter invitational, Husky senior Austin Abbott was just off his personal-best, finishing third in 3:41.70.

To read Washington's full Friday recap, click here. Washington State's full Friday recap is available here.

In the small college section of the women's 10000 at Mt. SAC, held on Thursday, Western Washington University's Sarah Porter won her heat of the women's 10,000 meters with a NCAA Division II automatic qualifying time of 34:58.37.

Teammate Lauren Breihof also broke the old school record and bettered her own provisional qualifying time by nearly a minute as she placed third with a 36:04.47 clocking.

To read Western's full recap, click here...

Full results from all events from the Mt. SAC Relays can be accessed through their web site, which you can click here...

Next week Washington will send the majority of its team to the Oregon Relays in Eugene, but a select group will travel to the famous Penn Relays in Philadelphia. Both events are April 24-25.

Washington State track and field teams will compete at the Duane Hartman Invite in Spokane April 25.

NOTE: The sports information office of Western Washington, University of Washington & Washington State University contributed to this report.

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