SPOKANE – LC State Track and Field opened the 2023-24 season on Saturday at the Spokane Invitational and came away with four national qualifying standards and four program records. Sydnie Zywina accomplished both in the triple jump, while Madigan Kelly did the same in the 60m hurdles.
Jennah Carpenter also earned a qualifying mark for nationals in the high jump, as did London Kirk in the 600m. Trenton Johnson (triple jump) and Jedidiah Barnaby (60m dash) set program bests with their performances today.
“Really excited about our first meet of the year,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “We thought we could potentially have as many as five or six national qualifiers, and even though we fell short of that we had some outstanding performances. A lot of athletes were really close and considering where we are at in our training cycle, things are very promising and we are looking forward to the next five weeks.”
Zywina bested her own record in the triple jump and punched an automatic ticket to nationals with a mark of 1.64m. Kelly broke her record in the 60m hurdles with each of her runs today. The junior ran a time of 8.67 in the qualifying round before bettering the mark to 8.61 in the prelims.
“Madigan looked great today and Sydnie probably had the best day out of everyone when it came to consistency and her performance in her jumps. She has come a long way and we are excited about where things are going,” Collins said.
Carpenter also saw action in the 60m hurdles where she ran a time of 9.32 before going on to hit a national mark in the high jump at 1.66m. She cleared her first two heights on the first attempt before punching her ticket back to South Dakota.
Kirk also earned his spot back on the national stage in an event new to him. The junior tested the waters in the 600m and clocked a time of 1:20.99 for a B standard. Sophomore Barnaby was just off the national mark but did better his program record in the 60m dash with a time of 6.89. Not far behind was freshman Preston Cooper with a time of 7.02, second-best all-time. Kirk (7.06) and Jordan Castillo (7.10) each also ran personal-best times in the event. Barnaby also ran a PR in the 200m (22.27) which ranks second all-time at LC State.
“Jed also smashed a school record today and was a lot closer to the qualifying standard than we thought he would be at this point, so that is also really encouraging as we head into the core of our schedule in the next month,” Collins added.
Johnson, a sophomore this season, had an impressive showing in the triple jump and was just shy of the national-qualifying standard. He leapt a distance of 13.95m to break his own record in the event. Ian Gardom hit a mark of 11.75m in the event as well. Johnson also PRed in the long jump with a mark of 6.28m, behind Christian Bothwell’s 6.51m.
Both Warrior throwers in the men’s weight throw had career-bests with Sam Weller’s mark of 12.66m and Tanner Beltz-Childs at 11.25m. Weller threw to a mark of 13.36 in the shot put and Bothwell Pred at 11.71m. In Haylee Appleford’s collegiate debut, the Asotin native hit a mark of 10.97m in the shot put while Grace Osborne threw a distance of 9.95m.
Lewiston native Luke Mastrobernardino also made his debut in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.29. Ian Gardom ran a career-best 8.91 in the event. Mastrobernardino led LC in the 400m at 52.07 and Ike Hopper ran a time of 52.13.
Macey Gunderson began her Warrior career with a time of 1:03.96 in the 400m before running a 27.91 in the 200m. Anika Grogan led LC in the 200m (26.09).
In distance events, Tristan O’Brien ran a PR in the mile (4:52.77) and Abigail Peightal ran a time of 5:31.93. Keith Uitdewilligen (9:09.10) and Luke Sellmann (9:48.24) each ran the 3,000m.
The Warrior women were just off the national mark in the 4x400m relay with the group of Kelly, Sara Hathaway, Grogan and Emily Collins. Collins’ ran a time of 1:38.44 in the 600m as well to sit third all-time in the event.
The men’s 4x400m relay team of Cooper, Hopper, Johnson and Kirk ran a time of 3:23.26.
UP NEXT
The Warriors break until January when the team competes at Idaho’s Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open on Jan. 19.
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