Cougars, Huskies split meet

Call it a bittersweet split.

Luke Lemenager outraced Washington rival Austin Abbott in the 800 meters for the second consecutive year and Washington State made it two in a row over the Huskies men with a 92-70 track and field dual meet win Saturday at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

But for the first time since 1997, the WSU women lost – by the narrowest of margins possible: 81.66-81.33.

The fractions were divvied up in the pole vault, in which WSU’s Hilary Moore and UW’s Andrea Peterson and Lara Jones all finished tied for second at 12 feet, 2 inches behind event winner Alexa Huestis of WSU. Moore placing second outright would have given the Cougars the team victory.

But the meet was essentially decided in the last field event, the triple jump. WSU’s Candace Missouri, who won the long jump, got off a last-attempt best of 38-71/2 – but came up 3/4 of an inch short of UW’s Taylor Nichols.

The Cougars had their share of successes in the women’s meet – most notable of which was a meet- and school-record throw of 181-8 in the javelin by sophomore Marissa Tschida.

Lorraine King skipped her specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, to win both the 200 (23.82) and 400 (54.27) sprints.

On the men’s side, NCAA 400 hurdles champ Jeshua Anderson also stepped aside in that event as teammate Barry Leavitt led a 1-2-3 WSU sweep. Anderson won the 400 meters in 46.08.

Lemenager ran a lifetime-best 1:49.28 to beat Abbott (1:49.73), an NCAA finalist last spring, with Cougars freshman Joe Abbott third in 1:50.10.

Softball

Scenic West Athletic Conference: Amanda Krier drove home three runs and Brooke Springer put the game away with a two-run, sixth-inning home run as host North Idaho College (36-21, 30-16) salvaged another doubleheader split against fifth-ranked Salt Lake City (44-7, 41-5) with a 7-4 win in the nightcap. Nina Gonzalez picked up the win for NIC, scattering six hits and striking out six.

Salt Lake took the opener 5-1 despite two more hits by Krier. The teams also split a doubleheader Friday.

•NWAACC: Blue Mountain opened a doubleheader with six runs in the top of the first. From then on, Community Colleges of Spokane dominated. But the best the Sasquatch (20-6, 34-9) could do is a split, losing the opener 7-2 before running away with the nightcap 10-2 at Spokane Falls CC.

Shelby Bethel ran her record to 8-0 by tossing a four-hitter in the second game. Heather Jackson paced the offense with three hits while Kirstin Gamboa added two hits, including a double. CCS had 10 hits and was helped by five Blue Mountain (16-8, 23-13) errors.

•Pac-10: Danielle Lawrie threw her school-record 17th shutout of the season as host Washington routed Oregon 11-0.

Ashlyn Watson gave Lawrie and the Huskies (38-9, 11-6) all the runs they would need with a three-run home run, part of a seven-run third inning. Lawrie (29-5) breezed, giving up just two hits, one walk and striking out 10.

Women’s rowing

Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships: It looks as if rowing on Lake Natoma in Sacramento, Calif., agrees with Gonzaga. For the third consecutive year, GU won all its heat races to advance four boats to today’s Grand Final. The Zags will be going for their fourth title in five years in varsity and junior varsity 8+.

•Pac-10: Oregon State sent three of four Washington State boats to defeat in the Cougars’ final races before the Pac-10 Championships. WSU’s varsity 8, ranked 15th, lost to No. 12 OSU for the second time this season.

Men’s rowing

Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships: Gonzaga swept its three heats to move into today’s Grand Finals at Sacramento. The varsity 8+ was the only boat to break 6 minutes on the 2,000-meter course, winning its heat by more than 6 seconds.