On March 31, the Cowboys and Cowgirls traveled down to Greeley, Colorado for the 2018 Tom Benich Invitational, where both teams made a strong showing. The men raked in 136 points to finish second place overall, with the women came in third place with 122.5 points.
Not only was the meet successful for the team as a whole, but several individuals saw records break and personal bests beat.
Ja’la Henderson destroyed a near 20-year triple jump record, when she jumped 43 feet, 0.5 inches in Greeley to take home first place in the event.
“I’m like, ‘I’m not going to do good’ but then I ended up doing good,” Henderson said of her jump and placement at the meet.
Teammate Allegra Carson came in not too far behind, taking home fifth place in the event. Other jumpers put forth a solid effort, with four Cowgirls placing in high jump, along with four Cowboys placing in long jump and triple jump. Anissa Warner and Sofia Hof tied for ninth place in high jump, while Madison Ashworth and Hannah Bertelson tied for 12th place in the event.
For the men, Caleb Seeton took home first place in long jump with his personal best of 23 feet, 3.25 inches, according to Wyoming athletics’ Nate Lake. Teammate Bobby Wingeleth came close behind in third place. Another Cowboy claimed a victory in jumps, as William Nolan took first in triple jump. Kyle Alexander finished fifth place in the event.
Jumps coach Quincy Howe was pleased with what he saw not only from his jumpers, but from the entire squad.
“I thought it was a good meet,” Howe said. “Not just Ja’la, just the entire team has been performing quite well. You know, we’re still seven weeks from our conference meet, and everyone is trending in the right direction.”
Another cowgirl who stood out was Jordan Edmonds, who, despite coming in second in the event, clocked UW’s fastest 200-meter time since 2004, with a time of 24.02 seconds. Edmonds also finished in third place in the 100-meter. For the men, Jace Marx placed ninth in the 100 meter and Sam Kirkeid came in behind him in 13th place. Jacob Harthun, Melina Harris, Savannah Phillips, and Ashley Urman rounded out the sprinting events for the Pokes, coming in 10th, second, 8th and 13th place, respectively.
In the remaining events, eight UW athletes saw victory. Ricky Faure won the 800-meter race, Daniel Hintz won his 1500-meter run, Christopher Henry crossed the line first in the 5000-meter run, Harry Ewing took home a gold in the steeplechase, and rounding out winners for the men was Damon Unland, who took home first in hammer throw, right in front of his brother, Kirk.
Lauren Hamilton had a long race to run, but she managed to do it in great time, taking home a “W” in the 1500 run. Ashley Bock ran a bit further, but still saw the finish line first in the 5000-meter race. Steeplechase might be the new hottest event for UW, as Kasey Doner also took first, like her male counterpart.
It was not just the first place finishers, however, that helped the Cowboys and Cowgirls place second and third overall, respectively. The rest of the team had a lot of placers during the Greeley meet.
Bryce Ailshie took third place in the 800-meter run, with teammate Calum Kepler close behind in sixth place. Michael Downey ended with a second place finish in the 1500 meters. McCade Johnson stayed pretty consistent with his hurdling efforts, as he finished fifth place in the 110 meter hurdles and fourth place 400 hurdles. Freshman Brandon McGuire came in just a bit behind Johnson, as McGuire took eighth place in the 400 hurdles.
Both men’s relay teams showed the track world what they were made of, as the 4-by-100-meter team made up of Marx, Jackson Wood, Kevin Blackett and Kirkeid took second place. Meanwhile, Ailshie, Hintz, Kepler, Faure finished in third place with their 4-by-400-meter relay.
Three throwers rounded out the men’s competitions: Garrett Lynch, Damon Unland and Hap Frketich. Lynch placed fifth in discus along with a seventh place finish in the hammer throw. Unland only competed in discus, where he came in 11th place. Frketich came in right on the heels of teammate Lynch, as he finished eighth in hammer throw.
For the women, distance and hurdles were no problem. Kerry White finished fifth in the 800-meter run. Meanwhile, two of her teammates, Emily Person and Solana Quistorff, came in third and fifth place, respectively, in the 1500-meter run. Ariana Williams and Heidi Pfoor leaped over their hurdles with ease, as Williams placed third in the 100-hurdles and Pfoor came in fifth. Then, in the 400-hurdles, Pfoor got the better of Williams with a second place finish, and Williams coming in sixth, along with a third hurdler, Marie Doherty, finishing between the two in fifth place.
Regan VanDepol followed closely behind teammate Doner at second in the steeplechase. Meanwhile, UW’s female 4-by-400-meter relay got it done with Person, Quistorff, Urman and White bringing in a fifth place finish for the team.
Finally, the Cowgirls rounded out the scoring with their throwers. Hannah Carr took sixth place in shot put as well as second place with her discus throw. Addison Henry followed close behind in discus, coming in fourth place, with Tori Sleep behind her in eighth place in the event. Emelda Malm-Annan pulled through with a fourth place finish in the hammer throw, just slightly ahead teammate Henry, who brought home ninth place.
The Cowboys and Cowgirls got off to a hot start, and they look to continue that streak as they travel to Boulder, Colorado April 6-7.
