Arizona track and field opened up the 2014 indoor season on Friday night, where Nick Ross and Jordan Young each set school records during the Lumberjack Team Challenge in Flagstaff, Ariz.
Nick Ross, a redshirted senior, won the men’s high jump competition with a personal-best clearance of 7-6.5 (2.30m). Besides breaking a school record, this jump ranks as the No. 1 collegiate mark in the country so far.
In a press release following the meet, Ross said he was motivated to honor former hurdler Lezo Urreiztieta, who died last month.
“Individually, setting the school record means a lot, but it means more to me as a team. I really wanted to put a mark out there for Lezo because of the circumstances,” Ross said.
Freshman Jordan Young also set a school record by recording a mark of 69-2 (21.10m) in the men’s weight throw competition. It also won him first place overall at the meet and is the fifth best in the country this year.
“I knew I had the potential to break the school record this year; I just had not expected to do so in my first meet,” Young said in a press release. “It really is an honor, and it helps to open my eyes to even bigger possibilities throughout my collegiate career.”
Besides two school records set by members of the No. 17 men’s team, the Wildcats won eight events.
“I’m pretty excited about a lot of the performances that we had,” head coach Fred Harvey said in a press release.
For the women, sophomore Nnenya Hailey posted the top time in the preliminary and in the final in the 60-meter hurdles. Shaving down two seconds from the preliminary, Hailey ran in the final race clocking in at 8.40. These times gave Hailey her personal best and first place overall.
Tucson local Shakayla McEaddy won first place overall in women’s high jump with a personal-best mark of 5-8.75 (1.75m).
Despite knee issues, senior Alyssa Hasslen earned a first-place finish in the women’s shot put competition with a toss of 55-1 (16.79m).
In the women’s 400-meter sprint, the top time among the Wildcats came from freshman Jasper Gray running 56.62.
On the men’s side of the 400 run, Miles Parish won first place overall clocking a time of 48.83.
Mohammad Alhasan, a junior from Safwa, Saudi Arabia, earned a personal-best time of 6.75 in the preliminary round of the men’s 60-meter dash. Winning fourth place overall, Alhasan ran with a time of 6.79 in the final of the event.
In the women’s 800-meter run, senior Shapri Romero ran the women’s 800 run with a time of 2:16.25 to take first place.
The quartet of Hailey, senior Tamara Pridgett, Gray and Romero in the women’s 4×400-meter relay clocked a time of 3:42.91, winning second place overall. Winning third place overall is the men’s quartet of freshman Bryce Houston, junior Branden Helms, Parish and junior Neil Houlihan clocking a time of 3:17.12 in the 4×400 relay.
This weekend, the Wildcats return to Flagstaff for the Northern Arizona Invitational and will also compete in the New Mexico Cherry & Silver Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.
“We’re going to have to do a bit of work, but we’re moving on to the next meet and we have a good team,” Harvey said.
On Wednesday at 6 p.m., the UA will host a memorial service for Urreiztieta in McKale Center.
— Follow Zoe Wolkowitz @zowolko
