Cougs, Huskies split dual meet

For Washington State’s women, the only thing better than track is field.

Thrower McKenzie Burgess won three events and twins Diana and Julie Pickler had a hand in four other victories as the Cougar women resumed their superiority over rival Washington 111-92 in the annual cross-state dual track meet Saturday at Husky Stadium.

The Huskies, however, ended WSU’s four-year winning streak on the men’s side, 110.5-92.5, helped by Austin Abbott’s double in the middle distances and a big upset in the pole vault.

WSU’s women have now won eight of the last nine duals against the Huskies, this one cemented by a 60-28 edge in the field. The Cougars won all eight of those events, including meet-record performances by Rachel Bertholf in the javelin (162 feet, 9 inches) and pole vaulter Tamara Diles, whose 13-71/4 clearance on her last attempt beat Pacific-10 champ and NCAA runner-up Kate Soma.

Burgess, a redshirt freshman, won the shot put with a 2-foot lifetime best of 46-51/2, then added wins in the discus and hammer.

Another big effort for the Cougars came in the triple jump, where Sarah Burns and Kaylee Gardner topped 40 feet for the first time as collegians to finish 1-2 and become NCAA regional qualifiers.

As for the Pickler sisters, they contributed to 30.5 Cougar points, including wins in both relays. They also tied for first in the high jump with 5-7 leaps and finished 1-2 in the long jump, Diana getting the winner at 19-21/2. On the track, they finished 2-3 in the 100-meter hurdles behind the 13.59-second meet record of UW’s Ashley Lodree.

The men’s meet took an early turn south for the Cougs when UW’s Sam Roberts won the pole vault with a 16-63/4 leap to beat WSU’s two 17-footers. Paul Nicoletti was second at 16-3/4, but Tyson Byers strained a hamstring and withdrew after taking one unsuccessful attempt at the same height.

Another significant victory for the Huskies came in the long jump, where Pacific Lutheran transfer J.R. Wolfork got off nearly a 2-foot season improvement with a 24-5 winner, and the Dawgs also made sweeps at 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meters – helped when the Cougars’ top 1,500 threat, Justin Ireland, was unable to run after suffering severe facial injuries after being hit by a bicycle on an earlier training run.

Sprinter James McSwain was a double winner for WSU and contributed a leg on the winning 4x100 relay, as well. Sophomore Alex Grant and freshman Ryan Scott earned regional qualifying marks in the steeplechase and javelin, respectively, while in one of the day’s top races, Cougar John Cassleman chased UW’s Shane Charles to a meet-record 50.76 in the 400 hurdles – Cassleman running a PR 51.16.

•Idaho’s Pat Ray zipped the 400 meters in 47.36 to break his meet record – one of 10 that fell at Spokane Falls Community College in the annual Duane Hartman Invitational.

Three other men improved their own meet marks – intermediate hurdler Alex Moon (52.17), javelin thrower Ryan Weidman (216-6), and Idaho shot putter Russ Winger (60-6), who also won the discus (175-11).

Central Washington’s Mike Pankiewicz won the day’s most exciting race, the men’s 800, outsprinting CCS’ Nick Siebert to the finish in a meet-record 1:52.48 as six competitors broke 1:54.

On the women’s side, Eastern Washington redshirt Haley Heater was a double winner and broke the meet record in the 400 hurdles in 1:02.66.

CCS’ Afton Reynolds broke both the meet and school records with an 11-33/4 win in the pole vault, while other meet standards fell to Idaho’s Jennifer Broncheau in the hammer (175-8) and Manuela Kurrat in the javelin (155-9).

•Eastern Washington’s Branden Fuller won the 1,500 meters and Holly Evans set a school record in the women’s steeplechase at the Steve Scott Invitational in Irvine, Calif.

Fuller’s 3:46.94 to outkick UC Irvine’s Ricky Barnes is second only in school history to EWU great Bob Maplestone.

Evans, who finished second, clocked 11:02.29 to shave nearly 15 seconds off the old school standard.

The Eagles also got a 2-3 finish in the women’s javelin from Jordan Graeme (155-11) and Stephanie Ulmer (152-10).