TEMPE, Ariz. ?- The University of Arizona’s men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled north on Interstate-10 for the annual double-dual meet against in-state rivals Arizona State and Northern Arizona on Saturday. The rivalry continued with several outstanding performances across the board from both the men’s and women’s teams. In the final team scores, the Wildcats claimed decisive victories over the Lumberjacks. The men won by a score of 129-41, while the women earned the victory by a score of 122-60. The Wildcat men lost to the Sun Devils for the third year in a row, this time by a score of 108-91. The women also lost a tough competition to Arizona State, 116-81. It was the fifth win in a row for the ASU women over Arizona.
One of the stars for the Arizona women was senior Ilona Rutjes. She has been one of the Wildcats’ most consistent throwers all season, especially in the discus. She claimed the discus title on Saturday with a throw of 189 feet, 9 inches (57.83m), a mark that currently leads the country and is a double-dual meet record. Sophomore Rachel Varner finished third behind Rutjes with a throw of 175 feet, 8 inches (53.54m).
The men’s and women’s 4x100-meter relay squads came up with some quick times to earn NCAA regional bids. The women clocked a season’s best time of 45.18 seconds, while the men crossed the line in 40.51 seconds.
Senior Josh Ludwig finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, crossing the line in 9:04.34. Junior Amber Steen claimed a victory in the 1,500 meters, finishing with a time of 4:31.78. In the men’s 1,500 meters, junior Robert Cheseret won in 3:47.77. Senior Jonah Maiyo was second in 3:48.06.
The men’s duo of junior Jeff Hunter and sophomore Dan Cook swept the top two positions in both the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Hunter won both events, while Cook was the runner-up. Hunter claimed the 110-meter hurdles in a season’s best time of 13.98 seconds, while Cook clocked a season’s best time of 14.16 seconds. In the 400-meter hurdles, Hunter crossed the line in 52.11 seconds. Cook finished with a time of 53.15 seconds.
Senior Sharifa Jones won the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 13.59 seconds. Fellow senior Chelsea Powell was second in a season’s best time of 14.49 seconds. Sophomore Nikki Martin placed second in the 100 meters with a regional-qualifying time of 11.64 seconds.
In the women’s 800 meters, senior Fanice Chepkorir won with a NCAA regional-qualifying time of 2:09.20. Maiyo claimed the men’s 800-meter title in 1:51.37.
Powell and fellow senior Lindsay Scarborough swept the top two places in the 400-meter hurdles. Powell clocked a season’s best time of 1:01.08, while Scarborough crossed the line in 1:02. 79.
Cheseret also claimed the title in the 3,000 meters, winning with a time of 8:19.46. Freshman Mohamed Trafeh was third in 8:35.05.
In the men’s discus, the Wildcat tandem duo of sophomore Adam Kuehl and junior Sean Shields claimed the top two places. Kuehl won with a throw of 190 feet, 7 inches (58.08m), while Shields was second with a mark of 187-9 (57.24m). In the shot put, the duo also swept the top two places, but in reverse order. Shields won with a throw of 62 feet, 10 inches (19.15m), while Kuehl was second with a toss of 56-10 ?ľ (17.34m).
Freshman Megan Howard placed second in the women’s shot put with a throw of 51 feet, 11 ?ľ inches (15.84m). Senior Kevin Opalka placed second in the pole vault with a regional-qualifying vault of 16 feet, 6 ?ľ inches (5.05m).
In the women’s long jump, Jones continued to improve, finishing second with a leap of 18 feet, 10 ?ľ inches (5.76m). Freshman Imoh Ekpo was third in the men’s long jump with a best attempt of 22 feet, 3 inches (6.78m).
The postseason begins for the Wildcats next weekend with the Pac-10 Multi-Events Championships in Westwood, Calif. on the campus of UCLA. The two-day affair will take place May 7-8, followed by the individual events on May 14-15, also at UCLA.