Souhrada breaks 15-year-old UI record

The wind made for some fast sprinting and long throws at the Dan O’Brien Track and Field Complex in Moscow on Saturday – but it wasn’t a gale that lifted up Tassie Souhrada.

The University of Idaho junior broke the school record in the women’s high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 103/4 inches to highlight the McDoanld’s Outdoor meet – the last regular-season outing for Inland Northwest collegiate teams. Souhrada tacked a full 2 inches onto her own lifetime best and topped the 15-year-old school record of 5-10 1/2 set by Stacey Asplund.

Another Idaho record fell in the women’s pole vault, with freshman Melinda Owen upping her own mark to 12-31/2 – though she wound up second in the event to Eastern Washington’s Sarah Hegna, who PRed at the same height.

Meanwhile on the track, winds that gusted to as brisk as 4 meters per second boosted sprinters and discus throwers. Former Vandal Angela Whyte, in fact, ran the fastest times ever on the Palouse in the 100 meters and 100-meter hurdles – 11.37 and 12.98 seconds, respectively – though excessive winds made them unallowable as stadium records. Likewise, Idaho’s Patrick Ray ran a 20.94 200 meters – faster than the O’Brien track record – but aided by too much wind. However, eight men broke 10.80 in the 100 meters and most of them ran in a wind-legal heat, led by winner Bennie Chatman in 10.48.

In the discus ring, former Washington State thrower Andrea Thornton just missed her stadium record by 3 inches with a spin of 183-7, while on the men’s side EWU’s Jason Demeroutis added nearly 20 feet to his season best with a winning toss of 178-8.

‘s Julie Pickler finished sixth in the heptathlon and David Turpin was eighth in the decathlon as the Pacific-10 Conference multi-events championships concluded in Tucson, Ariz. Led by freshman Tommy Skipper’s 7,589 score, Oregon finished 1-3-4-5 in the decathlon to amass 25 team points toward the conference meet which begins next Saturday.

‘s javelin at 141-10. Andy Prentice (Gonzaga Prep) of St. Martin’s was second in the 1,500 and fourth in the 800.

• Eastern Washington’s Caitlin Prunty won the women’s 800 (2:17.42) and Katelyn Waterhouse took the long jump (17-83/4w) at the Ken Shannon Invitational in Seattle.