Area roundup: WSU men fourth in Pac-12 track
Washington State junior Todd Wakefield won the 3,000-meter run and the Cougar men took fourth at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.
Wakefield ran a lifetime-best of 8 minutes, 2.06 seconds to claim the victory.
The Cougar men scored 70 points, their best finish since 2009. The WSU women took seventh with 34 points, nearly three times more than their total last year.
Stephan Scott-Ellis, a day after winning the long jump, took third in the triple jump with a leap of 50 feet, 9 ½ inches.
The women were led by Cindy Robinson and Shaquana Logan. Robinson took fourth in the 60-meter dash in 7.54 seconds and Logan earned a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles (8.55) and a sixth-place finish in the triple jump (38-7 ¾)
• The Idaho women’s 1,600-meter relay team set a school record and Barry Britt claimed his second individual title to lead the Vandals men’s and women’s teams at the Western Athletic Conference Championships at the Albuquerque (N.M.) Convention Center.
The quartet of Karlene Hurrel, Lauren Schaffer, Keli Hall and Liga Velvere finished in 3:41.57, breaking the record of 3:43.48 set in 2001.
Britt won the 3,000 in 8:29.85. He became the first Idaho man to win both the 3,000 and 5,000 in a single conference meet. Following competition, he was named the WAC Track Performer of the Year.
Sophomore Ben Ayesu-Attah ran a career-best time of 47.23 seconds to claim the 400-meter dash.
The women were led by Hannah Kiser and Velvere. Kiser won the 3,000 for the third straight year, finishing in a conference-record 9:40.35. Velvere won the 800 for the third consecutive year. She finished in 2:08.53.
Texas-San Antonio men and the Texas State women won team titles. Idaho’s men were fifth, the women sixth.
• The Eastern Washington men took seventh and the women ninth at the Big Sky Indoor Championships in Bozeman.
The Eagle men were led by Jordan Arakawa and Brad Michael. Arakawa was second in the weight throw, reaching a personal-best distance of 65-4. Michael took second in the 400 in 47.84 and was fifth in the 200 in 21.84.
Baseball
P.J. Jones hit an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Washington State a 1-0 win and a doubleheader sweep over Eastern Michigan (1-3) in nonconference play at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman.
The Cougars (3-2) used a five-run third inning to take control in their 8-4 opening-game win.
The nightcap featured superb pitching by both teams. WSU starter Joe Pistorese threw eight innings, allowing six hits and no walks while striking out three. Kellen Camas pitched a perfect ninth and earned his first win of the season.
The series continues today with a doubleheader in Pullman.
• Steven Halcomb’s RBI double in the top of the ninth gave Gonzaga a 9-8 win over Pacific in the nightcap of a doubleheader at the Pacific Baseball Invitational in Stockton, Calif.
The Bulldogs fell 4-0 to UNLV in their opening game.
In the nightcap, GU (4-3) trailed 8-7 heading into the ninth. Payden Cawley Lamb hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game before Halcomb’s walk-off double.
Softball
Linfield and Whitworth split a season-opening Northwest Conference doubleheader in McMinnville, Ore. Both games went into extra innings.
The Wildcats (1-1, 1-1) won the opener 7-6 in nine innings and the Pirates (4-4, 1-1) earned a 7-6 win in the nightcap in 15 innings.
Linfield’s Lisa Yamamoto hit a walk-off solo home run in the ninth to give the Wildcats the win in the first game. Bailey Kasler went 3 for 3 with two doubles and three RBIs to lead Whitworth.
The Pirates won the second game thanks to Riley Fritz’s sacrifice fly in the 15th.