The No. 5 men’s and No. 10 women’s track and field had a successful weekend competing across the country, starting in New York City at the Millrose Games.
Sophomore Lawi Lalang took the 5,000-meter race by storm, coming in second only to the U.S. record holder and volunteer assistant coach Bernard Lagat, with a time of 13:08.28. Lalang finished behind Lagat by less than a second. Coming in at a close third was fellow teammate senior Stephen Sambu, with the second-best collegiate time ever at 13:13.74.
“When you have two guys breaking a collegiate record in the same race, Lawi and Stephen, it’s a great weekend all the way around,” said head track and field coach Fred Harvey.
Back in the Northwest, junior Edgar Rivera Morales earned a bid to the NCAA indoor championships with a high jump mark of 2.24 meters. He and teammate junior Nick Ross are currently tied for the third best mark in the country.
“All the sprinters ran very well,” Harvey said. “They all ran a personal best in their individual events and you rarely get that in a competition but we got it this weekend. So we’re excited, we’re starting to come together at the right time.”
Up next is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships at the Washington Dempsey Indoor facilities in Seattle on Feb. 24.
— Emi Komiya
