The UA men’s and women’s track and field teams competed this past weekend in the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle, Washington.
Pau Tonnesen led the way for the Wildcats with arguably his best performance of the season.
Tonnesen broke the school record in the men’s heptathlon with a score of 5,972, besting the previous record of 5,909 held by Jake Arnold.
Arizona head coach Fred Harvey had high praise for Tonnesen after the meet.
“I knew he had the ability for that type of performance,” Harvey said in a press release. “It is definitely a top-three mark in the world right now, if not the best. It is one of the top collegiate marks and I think there is more to come from him.”
Also performing well for the Wildcats on the men’s side were Aaron Castle and Viktor Gardenkranz. Both competed in the men’s shot put.
Castle finished third with a throw of 58 feet, 8 inches. Gardenkranz, meanwhile, set a new personal best with a toss of 55 feet, 7.5 inches, earning himself a fifth-place finish.
In the women’s shot put, Amarissa Hawker finished in third with a throw of 47 feet, 10 inches.
Alyssa Thompson competed in the women’s indoor pentathlon for the Wildcats. Thompson finished in sixth place with a score of 3,807.
Harvey was happy with the performance he saw from Thompson.
“Alyssa Thompson was great today,” Harvey said. “Considering her hurdle race and her high jump, the hurdle race was a better race for her time-wise than what she has done all season. But there is a lot more in the tank in that race and in the high jump as well. She has a really big jump in her and it is just a matter of timing.”
Harvey also thought sophomore distance runner Claire Green’s athleticism was solid.
Green competed in the women’s mile race, where she finished 19th with a new personal best time of 4:48.33.
“I thought this was a really good stepping stone for her with the personal record,” said Harvey. “She is a young lady that I think can run closer to 4:42 in the mile which would be awesome for her as a sophomore.”
The Wildcats will now look to continue their success next weekend when they travel to New York. They will be competing in the New York Armory Collegiate Invitational starting on Friday.
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