In Arizona track and field’s dual meet against rival ASU, the men lost by a score of 92-71, and the women lost 84-79.
Though both came up short, the Wildcats still had many strong individual performances and set several personal records.
UA track and field coach Fred Harvey said he was satisfied with his team’s performance over the weekend and thinks his team is headed in the right direction as the Pac-12 Championships approach.
“I’m extremely proud of how we competed this meet,” Harvey said in an Arizona Athletics interview. “The women competed extremely well; we had some really good performances. It shows a lot of promise there, and I’m excited about how they competed. On the men’s side, they competed just as well.”
In the 400-meter hurdles, Nnenya Hailey finished in first, running a 56.70 time. This was a personal best time for Hailey and the second-best time in school history. On the men’s side, Miles Parish finished in first place, running a personal best time of 51.98.
Tiana Bonds finished in first in the 100-meter hurdles, running a 13.85 time. Her teammates Traci-Lynn Hicks and Alyssa Thompson finished right behind her in second and third place, respectively.
In the discus throw competition, Gerhard de Beer set a 59.34 meter mark to win the event. This was also a personal best mark for de Beer and the best mark in the Pac-12 Conference this season.
Savannah Whitehead had a personal best clearance of 3.92 meters in the pole vault competition and finished in first place.
The Wildcats also had strong performances in the relay competitions. Hicks, Bealoved Brown, Tatum Waggoner and Rachel Johns teamed up in the 4×100 relay and won the event, clocking a season best time of 45.18.
Waggoner also ran the 200-meter race and won the event with a 23.70 time. Hailey, Waggoner, Gia Trevisan and Diana Gajda teamed up in the 4×400 relay and finished in first with a 3:40.41 time.
On the men’s side, Blake Eichler, Ty Brandt, Bryce Houston and Tyrell Johnson finished in second with a 41.28 time in the 4×100 relay. Eichler, Houston, Parish and Pete Lauderdale II finished in first in the 4×400 meter relay, running a 3:10.02 time.
Collins Kibet won the 1,500-meter race with a 3:48.25 time. His sister Elvin Kibet competed in the 3K race and finished in second with a personal best time of 9:37.33.
In the women’s high jump competition, Lisanne Hagens set a personal best clearance of 1.81 meters to win the event.
In the javelin competition, Jonny Giess finished in first with a personal best throw of 62.57 meters. Alyssa Thompson took second place in the women’s javelin competition, setting a personal best mark of 40.60 meters.
Now, the Wildcats officially head into their postseason. The Pac-12 Championships will take place the next two weekends in Los Angeles, with the multi events this weekend and individual events the following weekend.
“We have a lot of things we want to continue to improve upon,” Harvey said. “We’re really optimistic about where we’re going and what we’re getting ready to do at the Pac-12 Championships.”
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