The No. 7 men’s and unranked women’s Arizona track and field teams lived up to expectations Saturday as their throwers dominated the Husky Invitational in Seattle.
The meet, which started at 9 a.m. and lasted until 9 p.m., was definitely one of the most competitive the Wildcats have endured all year, Arizona track and field head coach Fred Harvey said.
“”The hard part for the athletes was dealing with the number of competitors and heats at the competition,”” he said.
Senior throwers Sean Shields and Sara Vigil took control of the competition by performing excellently.
Shields led the pack by posting an NCAA indoor automatic qualifying mark in the men’s shot put and won the competition with a personal best throw of 19.44 meters.
Arizona now has two automatic qualifiers and 11 athletes who have posted NCAA indoor provisional qualifying marks.
Shields, whose throw was the season’s second best in the NCAA, is ranked among the best performers the school has ever had, Harvey said.
“”He’s without a doubt one of the top throwers,”” he said.
Meanwhile, Vigil broke her own school record in the women’s weight throw for the third time this season with a personal best toss of 20.29m.
Vigil, who won the competition with her strong performance, seems to be definitely improving week by week, Harvey said.
The team also benefited from the strong running performances on the women’s side, he said.
Senior sprinter Jennifer Whitlock had a personal best by a large margin and provisional qualifying time of 8.29 to win the 60m hurdles.
“”I’m extremely proud of the performance she put forth,”” Harvey said. “”We need her to continue to do that.””
Whitlock said she was very excited about winning the race.
“”That is something I really needed to do in order to get my season going,”” Whitlock said.
Senior distance runner Fanice Chepkorir also did well by earning a personal best time of 2:07.39 and finishing sixth in the women’s 800m.
Harvey said it is performances like these that will help in the Mountain Pacific Championships in Seattle in two weeks.
“”For us to be successful at the MPC’s, we have to see a real strong showing from the women’s side,”” he said.
