Despite having only three races under their collective belts this semester, the men’s and women’s track and field teams have gotten off to a bright start in 2015.
Allanah Whitehall (Seattle, Wash.) put her mark on Puget Sound history in the first event of the year by grabbing a record in the indoor 60-meter dash.
She broke the previous school record that she set at 8.14 seconds with a time of 7.79 seconds in the University of Washington indoor preview on Saturday Jan. 17.
She went two-for-two at the University of Washington Invitational by breaking the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.16 seconds.
The previous record was held by Andrea Lieken (Portland, Ore.) with a time of 26.65 seconds in 2012.
The next meet saw the men and women’s squad competing in the Cougar Indoor hosted by Washington State University.
All runners at this event competed alongside Division I and II athletes.
Whitehall continued her impressive run so far by placing sixth overall in the 60-meter dash, clocking in her finish at 7.92 seconds.
Two of Whitehall’s teammates, Melissa Motyer (Goleta, Calif.) and Mara Cummings (Leavenworth, Wash.), joined her with high finishes in the 200-meter dash.
Motyer finished in 18th with a time of 1:04.48 and Cummings finished 19th with a time of 1:05.53.
Motyer and Cummings shined again, this time joined by Megan Absten (Burlington, Wash.) and Alison Wise (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) for the four- by 400-meter relay.
They finished seventh in the race with a time of 4:21.39.
Shelby Kanter rounded off the top women’s squad performances at the Cougar Indoor in the triple jump. She recorded a distance of 10.62 meters, putting her in 11th in that event.
The men’s squad was up next and started strong. Graham Cobb (Billings, Mont.) led the charge, finishing 12th in the 60-meter dash.
Ross MacAusland (San Anselmo, Calif.) followed up in the 400-meter dash, clocking in at 54.08 seconds and finishing 12th in the race.
Cobb and MacAusland went to work again, teaming up with Todd Detweiler (Pleasenton, Calif.) and Johnathan Rosenburg (Littleton, Colo.) in the four- by 400-meter relay.
They finished with a solid 3:54.87, which earned them 11th place.
Steven Branham (Gold Bar, Wash.) stepped into the spotlight at the University of Washinton indoor meet Sunday Feb. 15.
He took home the top honor in the men’s high jump, clearing the bar at 1.85 meters.
Not to be outdone by their high-flying teammate, David Santillan (Milwalkie, Ore.), Justin Higa (Pearl City, Hawaii) and Sam Carilli (Palo Alto, Calif.) all finished in the top 10 runners of the 3,000 meter race.
Santillan came in fifth with a time of 8:55.34, Higa finished eighth with 9:00.30 and Carilli just behind Higa in ninth place clocking in at 9:00.76.
Whithall led the charge for the women’s team again by finishing eighth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.89 seconds.
Kanter took center stage again with a fourth-place finish in the triple jump, measuring a distance of 10.65 meters.
Taili Ni (Sacramento, Calif.) joined the trio of men in the 3,000 meter race by finishing third with a time of 10:40.72.
Both squads get some time to gear up for the first outdoor meet of the season, as they have three weeks between now and their first meet, which takes place in Baker Stadium on March 7.
