Thoirs repeats as Pac-12 pole vault champ with new Scottish national record...

LOS ANGELES—University of Washington junior Jax Thoirs (left/photo by Paul Merca) scored a personal best 18-6.5 (5.65m) Saturday as he successfully defended his Pac-12 title in the pole vault at Drake Stadium on the campus of UCLA.

The native of Glasgow, Scotland was clean through his first four heights, winning the competition at 17-6.5 (5.35m), before clearing 18-6.5 (5.65m) and getting yet another Scottish national record.

“It was a great day,” said Thoirs. “I could tell right from the start that all my teammates were jumping well so I knew the Huskies were going to have a great day. We went 1-2-4 so that was great. Obviously I’m really happy to win and the PR’s been a long time coming as well so that was a relief to get over that bar.”

Teammates Chris Williams, Lev Marcus and JJ Juilfs, went 2-4-7 in the competition, with Williams clearing 17-4.5 (5.30m), Marcus at 17-2.5 (5.25m), and former conference champ Juilfs at 16-2.75 (4.95m).

Washington got a top-3 finish in the men’s javelin, as Curtis Clauson took third with a personal best toss of 225-3 (68.67m).  Washington State’s Kyle Stevens (215-11/65.81m), Sam Ferenchak (206-0/62.79m) and Brad Stevens (205-8/62.69m) placed fifth, seventh and eighth.

In the women’s javelin, Kelsie Taylor of WSU took fifth place with her season-best toss of 149-10 (45.67m), and teammate Celena Ward placed sixth with her throw of 145-2 (44.24m).

In the women’s high jump, WSU’s Charlotte Muschamp was not able to successfully defend her 2014 championship in the women’s high jump but finished fourth with a season-best height of 5-10 1/2 (1.79m). Lateah Holmes and Audrey Ketcham  tied for sixth place with a clearance at 5-7 3/4 (1.72m), a PR height for Holmes. 

Brock Eager of the Cougars scored with his eighth-place finish in the hammer with only one measured throw among six on the day, a distance of 186-4 (56.79m).

Meron Simon of the Huskies finished fifth in the 3000 steeple in 8:52.63, while WSU’s Forrest Shaffer was seventh in 8:55.09. Defending champ Aaron Nelson of the UW, who has battled injuries this outdoor campaign, was tenth in 9:00.33, while Andrew Gardner was one spot back in 9:04.33.

Washington’s top women’s scorer was long jumper Kennadi Bouyer, who finished fifth with a leap of 19-11.75 (6.09m).  They also got points from Eleanor Fulton (8th, 10:29.30) in the steeple, and Gina Flint in the shot put (8th, 48-5.5/14.77m).

The link to live results is available here.

paulmerca.blogspot.com will be on site for the final day of competition at Drake Stadium.

NOTE:  The University of Washington and Washington State University contributed to this report.