TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Track and Field completed day one of their first home meet of the season, the Willie Williams Classic, at Drachman Stadium on Friday. The day was filled with top finishes for the Wildcats including first place performances from Tapenisa Havea, Youssef Koudssi, and Neysia Howard.
 
FIELD HIGHLIGHTS
In the first event of the day, the men's hammer throw, Jordan Geist finished runner-up with a heave of 71.92m (235-11). That mark is the second best in the NCAA behind the nation leading mark Geist threw last weekend in the Bahamas. Additionally, Ava David placed third overall in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 57.87m (189-10). Her last toss of the event was her best and propelled her to a top-three finish.
 
The Wildcats had a dominant day in the women's shot put. Freshman Tapenisa Havea had a PR throw of 16.15m (53-0) to win the event. She was followed by Mackenna Orie. who placed second overall with a mark of 16.01m (52-6.5), and Lauryn Love, who finished in fourth with a toss of 14.88m (48-10).
 
In the last event of the day, the men's discus, the Wildcats ended on a high note with Youssef Koudssi winning the competition and Zach Landa placing third. Koudssi's best throw was a personal best mark of 56.88m (186-7) and Landa's best was also a personal record of 54.53m (178-11).
 
Reinaldo Rodrigues finished runner-up in the men's long jump with a leap of 7.68m (25-2.5). Sir Jonathan Sims also placed sixth overall in his first collegiate outdoor long jump competition. In the women's long jump, freshman Taylen Wise was the top finisher for the Wildcats, placing fourth overall with a jump of 5.76m (18-10.75).
 
Jared O'Riley placed second overall in the men's javelin with a throw of 67.53m (221-6). He was barely edged out by the first-place competitor by only 0.03m. In the women's javelin, Erin Tack placed fourth overall with a throw of 44.58m (146-3). Makenzie Dilworth also broke her personal best in the event by over three meters and finished seventh in her first meet of the year.
 
In the men's high jump, freshman Kristjan Sigfinnsson tied for second place after clearing a height of 2.05m (6-8.75).
 
TRACK HIGHLIGHTS
Neysia Howard was the first Wildcat to run on the day, and she did not disappoint. Howard won the women's 200m, running a time of 23.45, which was 0.02 seconds off her personal best. Additionally, Lauryn Ford clocked a new personal best time in the event of 24.53. Antonia Sanchez Nunez ran a PR time as well.
 
In the men's 200m, Trayvion White-Austin finished fifth overall with a time of 21.27. James Onanubosi also placed eighth, clocking a time of 21.46. Additionally, Brian Limage ran a personal best time in the event.
 
Sailor Hutton was the Wildcats top finisher in the women's 1500m, placing seventh overall with a time of 4:33.24. In the men's 1500m, freshman Logan Marek placed fifth with a time of 3:54.81 in his first competition of the track and field season.
 
Meggie Karp ran a huge personal best time of 17:19.45 in the women's 5000m to place third overall. In the men's 5000m, Ian Sanchez finished fourth overall and Noah Jodon placed fifth. Additionally, Jeffrey Sillers clocked a massive personal record time in the event, shaving off over 30 seconds from his previous best.
 
The Willie Williams Classic will continue tomorrow with events starting at 8:00 a.m. MST. The first collegiate field event will be the men's pole vault, which begins at 10:00 a.m. MST, and the first collegiate running event will be the women's 4x100m relay, which starts at 11:05 a.m. MST. Live results for all the competitions can be found here.
 
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