Vandals Run Away From Foes

Idaho, inspired by Friday’s school-record efforts from triple jumper Chris Kwaramba and its distance medley relay team, won three events and set another school record Saturday to claim the team title in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor track meet in Reno, Nev.

The Vandals, in their first year in the West Coast Conference, finished with 106.5 points to beat several Pac-10 Conference teams, including runner-up Stanford (86) and Washington State (78).

“This is the biggest win we’ve ever had,” said UI’s Coach of the Meet Mike Keller. “It’s a big accomplishment for a (former) Big Sky school to step up and beat Pac-10 schools.”

During Saturday’s competition, the Vandals picked up individual wins from Tawanda Chiwira, who ran a school-record 46.55 in the 400 meters, and Niels Kruller, who went 25 feet, 9-1/2 inches in the long jump. Idaho also won the 4x400 relay in 3:13.50.

On Friday, Kwaramba won the triple jump with an NCAA-qualifying leap of 52-7, and the Vandals’ distance medley finished third with a provisional time of 9:52.50.

Chiwira’s 400 met the NCAA automatic qualifying time, while Kruller’s long jump, Frank Bruder (third in the mile in 4:10.2) and Montrell Williams (third in the 200 in 21.47) met provisional standards.

Eastern Washington finished sixth in both the men’s and women’s competition at the Big Sky Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz., as host Northern Arizona won the women’s title and Idaho State took the men’s crown.

Seville Broussard paced EWU’s women by winning the 55-meter dash in a school-record time of 7.96 seconds and finishing second in the long jump at 5-7. The Eagles’ Matt Read won the men’s 800 in 1:53.46, and teammate Mike Dwyer finished second in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.46.

Cougs fall to A&M

Ryan Smith crashed a two-run homer and Washington State pounded out 10 hits Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Cougars (1-9) from dropping an 11-9 college baseball decision to 7th-ranked Texas A&M (10-4) at College Station, Texas.

Pirate swimmers second

Whitworth’s men and women finished second in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges Swimming Championships at Linfield College in McMinville, Ore.

The Pirate men got individual wins from John Rasmussen in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:07.77) and Jeff Rice (1:55.630 in the 200 fly (1:55.63), along with a win from their 400 freestyle relay team (3:09.56). The Whitworth women were led by Shannon Braun, who won the 100 freestyle (54.13.)

Puget Sound won the men’s title with 780 points to Whitworth’s 564.5, and edged the Pirates 684-619 for the women’s crown.

Pullman’s Marc Hammond and Nate Wilbourn both placed seventh at the boys’ State AA/A swimming and diving championships in Federal Way.

Hammond completed the 100-yard butterfly in 54.82 seconds.

Wilbourn’s 1:05.06 gave him seventh in the 100 breaststroke.

, DataTimes