University of Arizona
MPSF Championships
Women Relay Squad Breaks Own School Record, Wins Conference
02/28/2016 | Track and Field
Seattle, Wash. –
Day two of the MPSF Championships took place today and the Arizona Wildcats had an excellent showing for it with a plethora of athletes in action and a record broken in Seattle.
“This is the type of meet that we wanted to be able to have.” Head Coach Fred Harvey said, “To come to a championship meet and really compete at your highest level, you know we weren't trying to necessarily 'win' the meet, but a lot of schools aren't trying to do that. The objective of this meet for most schools are to try to get the best performances, get their best athletes on to the national championship.”
With one of the last events of the day, the women's 4x400-meter relay team provided the highlight of the day by winning the conference championship and breaking their own school record they set in New Mexico for the Don Kirby Invitational.
“I am just really proud of these ladies” Sprinter and co-record holder Tatum Waggoner said,”I am proud of what we did, just going out there and killing it. We were all a little worried from the beginning, and I am kind of injured in a sense, but we had to go out there and get it done and that is what we did. Now we have to get ready for nationals.”
Along with Waggoner the team consisted of Nnenya Hailey, Gia Trevisan, and Sage Watson. They would clip almost a second off of their record from 3:33.29 to 3:32.54, a mark that is currently the seventh-best in the country.
“It was a great meet when you see what our 4x400 team performed there with a meet, facility, and school record.” Coach Harvey said.
“On top of that, seeing Pau do what he did in the vault with a mark at 18 feet and 1.75 inches and winning that competition. Lisanne Hagens getting second-overall with one of her best marks of her life. Lastly, with Nnenya's 60-meter hurdle time, it's going to be really, really close but I am confident that it is going to get her into Nationals.”
After qualifying for the 60-meter hurdle final yesterday, Nnenya Hailey and Traci Hicks competed in it today for the women and Pau Tonnesen competed for the men.
Hailey posted an exceptional mark at 8.21 seconds, tied for her third-best career mark and good for a fourth place finish. Hailey holds the Arizona record in the 60-meter hurdle.
Traci Hicks would post a time of 8.66 seconds and finish in seventh place in the final. For the men, Tonnesen clocked in at 8.22 seconds for his fourth-best career time and a seventh place finish.
Tonnesen's performance came after he won the conference championship and set the fourth-best mark in the country in the pole vault yesterday.
In the 400-meter races Arizona had stellar performances from the men and women's side. For the women, Sage Watson, Gia Trevisan, and Tatum Waggoner lead Arizona, all finishing in the top-6.
Watson placed third and ran a personal record at 53.40 seconds, Trevisan finished fifth and ran a 54.09, and Waggoner was sixth by running a 54.52. Morgan Struble also put her talent on display by finishing 12th and running her second-best career time at 55.84 seconds.
For the men, Miles Parish represented Arizona well with a mark at 47.16 seconds and a fourth place finish. That was his ninth top-5 finish in ten 400-meter races.
Lisanne Hagens placed second in the women's high jump today by posting a mark of 5 ft - 10.5 in. (1.79m).
Collins Kibet posted a new personal record in the men's 800-meter race by clocking in at 1:48.04, good for a second-place finish. His previous high was 1:48.85.
Bryant O'Georgia posted a new personal record in the high jump today with a mark of 6 ft - 10.75 in. (2.10m). That mark was good for a fifth place finish.
Aaron Castle finished 7th in the shot put with a mark of 60 ft - 3.75 in. (18.38m). Viktor Gardenkranz set a personal record in the event with a mark of 56 ft - 7.5 in. (17.26m).
Claire Green took four seconds off her previous personal record in the mile-run, dropping it from 4:48.33 to 4:44.22 and was good for a seventh place finish.
Sam Willis took three seconds off his previous mile-run personal record, taking it from 4:10.91 to 4:07.99 which lead to a tenth place finish.
The men's 4x400 relay team included Blake Eichler, Bryce Houston, Michael Demby, and Miles Parish. They had a nice showing with a fourth place finish and a mark of 3:11.45.
Freshman Amarissa Hawker posted her third-best career mark in the women's shot put at 47 ft - 6.5 in. (14.49m) for a 12th place finish in the event.
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