Warrior Track and Field Sets Four Records, Hits One Qualifying Mark to Open Season

SPOKANE, Wash. – Four records fell and a spot at nationals was clinched at the first indoor track and field meet of the season for LC State. Lewiston natives Madigan Kelly and Anika Grogan picked up where they left off last season, while London Kirk continued to make dents in the record book. Freshman Trenton Johnson made his transition from cross country to field events one to remember with a record in the triple jump.

The Spokane Invitational provided a great glimpse into the future of LC State Track and Field with a large group of freshmen getting their first taste of the collegiate level.

“Pretty awesome day for our first meet of the year,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “I’m pretty impressed with the resiliency of these athletes and their ability to meet challenges both out of practice and the competitive arena, as well as in it. We set four school records today within a program that has already been performing quite well, so that says an awful lot. We had our newer athletes contribute a lot today and our returners definitely helped provide an example of how we need to come in and approach these meets, as well as what it means to be a Warrior.”

THE WOMEN

Similar to last season, Kelly’s first run of the year resulted in a program best. The sophomore edged high school and college teammate Grogan’s mark in the 60m dash with a time of 7.96 to place in the top 20. Grogan finished 23^rd overall (8.03).

Kelly also punched her ticket to nationals with an A mark in the 60m hurdles. She claimed 11^th overall with a time of 8.94 at the invite level. Sara Hathaway was seventh in the open race with a time of 9.22, and Ashley Britt was 15^th (9.56).

Grogan wasted little time upping her record time in the 200m with a mark of 25.46 to take 12^th in the field. Kelly was 30^th with a personal-best time of 26.57 to put herself fourth all-time in the event, and Britt placed 32^nd (26.67).

Keeping up with her former teammates at Lewiston, Emily Collins made her way into LC State’s top-five all-time in the 400m in her first race. The freshman clocked a time of 59.40 to take 14^th in the field. Britt was 21^st (1:01.45) and Dalli Elison placed 33^rd (1:04.85).

Abigail Peightal ran a personal-best mile time of 5:30.16 to finish 10^th in the event. The team of Collins, Grogan, Hathaway and Keelyn Pilcher finished eighth in the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:00.41.

Cynthia Smith tied her career-best in the pole vault with a mark of 3.30m to place seventh. Emberlynn Mack and Desiree Winslow tied for 11^th with an identical 2.75m mark.

LC was represented by Hathaway in the high jump. The junior placed 20^th with a height of 1.51m. Sydnie Zywina took 17^th in the triple jump (10.66m) and Alexa Horsley was 25^th (9.44m).

In the throwing events, Cassidy Henderson hit a mark of 10.56m in the weight throw to placed 33^rd, and freshman Grace Osborne was 35^th (10.02m). The two also competed in the shot put with Osborne taking 31^st (10.16m) and Henderson finishing 40^th (7.82m).

THE MEN

Johnson, also a member of the LC State Cross Country team, showed that he is a threat in track and field as well with a school-record in the triple jump. He set the program-best mark in his first attempt at 13.09m before bettering it a few attempts later at 13.54m. He finished seventh in the event.

Deary native Kirk claimed the top spot at LC in the 400m with a time of 49.24. He became the first Warrior to run a sub-50.00 in the event and now holds both the indoor 200m and 400m record. Kirk placed seventh in the event and Jaxon Blaker was 24^th (55.43).

Zayne Maughan earned a share of the No. 2 spot for the LC State indoor pole vault record. He cleared a height of 4.45m to finish eighth at the meet.

In his first collegiate race, Justin Krabbenhoft ran the third-fastest 60m dash in program history with a time of 7.21. He finished 20^th at the meet, with fellow freshman Jordan Castillo in 30^th (7.37). Castillo also had a strong 200m with a 31^st-place finish (23.60).

The men’s 4x400m relay ran the third-fastest relay time for LC. Blaker, Ike Hopper, Kirk and Krabbenhoft combined for a time of 3:27.01 to finish sixth at the meet.

The men saw multiple PRs in the 60m hurdles. Hopper was the top finisher for LC at 8.76, and Caleb Moore was 16^th with a personal-best 8.95. Krabbenhoft was 17^th (9.10), and both Christian Bothwell (19^th, 9.12) and Ian Gardom (20^th, 9.32) ran personal-bests.

Krabbenhost was also in action in field events and tied with Braden Wuthrich for the third-best high jump in Warrior history. The freshmen duo hit a mark of 1.90m to finish ninth and 10^th, respectively, and Gardom was 14^th (1.75m). Moore leapt to a career-best 1.70m to take 16^th.

Lewiston’s Kobe Wessels recorded a pair of top-10 finishes on the day. The freshman was fourth in the mile (4:33.97) and 10^th in the 800m (2:05.88). Tristin O’Brien was fifth in the mile (4:53.70) and 13^th in the 800m (2:10.13), and Tristan Wood placed seventh in the mile (5:03.77).

Fifth-year senior Jacyob Atencio hit a massive PR in the weight throw with a distance of 14.32m. The mark ranked third all-time at LC and earned a ninth-place mark. Three freshmen also competed in the event, with Jon Wattles in 20^th (11.81m), Tanner Beltz-Childs in 22^nd (10.79m) and Sam Weller in 24^th (10.37m).

Weller went on to throw the fifth-farthest shot put in Warrior history with a mark of 12.37m. He placed 16^th overall with Wattles in 22^nd (11.38m), Bothwell in 23^rd (11.16m), Atencio in 25^th (10.23m) and Beltz-Childs in 27^th (9.03m).

Moore tied a career-best height of 3.85m in the pole vault to earn a spot in the top 10 at ninth. Bothwell was 13^th (3.55m).

Connor Turpin placed 13^th in the 5,000m with a time of 16:06.78. Freshmen Alexander Fry and Connor Alexander made their collegiate track debuts in the 3,000m, with Fry taking 15^th (9:29.67) and Alexander taking 18^th (9:38.33).

Andrew Tilton took 36^th in the long jump (5.53m) as LC’s lone representative in the event.