WSU’s Arrivey wins high jump
Washington State University sophomore Trent Arrivey won the men’s high jump with a personal-best height of 7 feet, 31/4 inches during the first day of the NCAA West Regional Championships Friday at Northridge, Calif.
Arrivey cleared 7-31/4 on his third and final attempt and also attempted 7-5 three times, almost clearing the height on his third attempt.
His jump was the sixth-best effort in school history and earned him a trip to the NCAA Championships, one of three Cougars to earn the trip in four events on Friday.
“I no-heighted at this meet last year so today was a good day to redeem myself,” Arrivey said.
Senior McKenzie Garberg was fourth in the women’s hammer throw (200-9) and fourth in the discus (173-8) while senior Jon Jeffreys (West Valley HS) was fourth in the men’s javelin (220-9).
“I’m happy to go back to the NCAAs but not happy with my performance today,” Jeffreys said.
“My legs were just dead out there today and I don’t know what the deal was with that. That is probably the worst I’ve felt throwing javelin all year and I had the best practice of my life on Monday so that was the biggest surprise about today.”
Idaho senior thrower Russ Winger will be making his third straight appearance at the NCAAs after taking third place in the shot put with a toss of 65-1/2.
Winger is the reigning Western Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor champion in the event.
“The regional championships are basically a preview of nationals,” Idaho throws coach Julie Taylor said.
“The West Region has the three best guys in the nation. There are a few things right now that Russ needs to get fixed. Once he gets a little more confident with that, he’ll throw well and I think he’ll be there by the time the NCAA meet comes around.”
Kate Hutchinson (Southern California, Pullman HS) was sixth in the women’s discus. The top five advance to the championships but she could still go as at-large selection.
The NCAA Championships will be held in two weeks in Des Moines, Iowa.
Several area athletes qualified for event finals in preliminaries Friday.
They include: Jeshua Anderson and Barry Leavitt (WSU) in men’s 400 hurdles, Robert Williams (WSU) and Paul Dittmer (Idaho) in men’s 110 hurdles, Laef Barnes (UCLA, Mead HS) in the men’s 1,500 meters, Anna Layman (WSU, Central Valley HS) women’s 800 meters and Lorraine King (WSU) women’s 400 hurdles.
The meet concludes today.