This Thursday and Friday Whitworth track and field hosted the 13th annual Sam Adams Invitational. Central Washington, College of Idaho, Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University, Lewis-Clark State, University of Providence, Puget Sound University and Spokane Community College attended the meet.  With dual meet scoring, both the men and women teams defeated all competitors with the exception of Eastern Washington University, College of Idaho. The women also fell to Lewis-Clark State.

Thursday was the first day of the heptathlon and decathlon which included high jump, shot put, long jump, the 200 meter and 400 meter. Finishing up on Friday Junior Isabel Clark ended up in second place with 4703 points in the heptathlon, only 84 points away from the school record. Sophomore Sarah Cool was close behind, finishing in fourth place with 4280 points, and sophomore Taya DeFrance finished 14th with 3098 points. In the decathlon, sophomore Nick McGill finished in sixth place with 3305 points and freshman Joseph Tingstad finished in 14th place with 2810 points. Both athletes qualified for the Northwest Conference Championship in Mcminnville, Oregon which will take place on April 20 and 21.

On Friday senior Kayla Leland kicked off the second day by picking up a win in the 10,000 meters with a time of 36:03, a top national time in the event. Junior Kameha Medallada finished in second place, and got a personal best in the 100 meters with a time of 12.49. Also picking up points for the Pirates was junior Marissa Mount and senior Bailey Scott finishing first and second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

 On the men’s side highlights included senior Andrew Bloom winning the javelin with a throw of 204’11”. In the 800 meters, senior Daniel Harper ran a 1:59.47 to finish in sixth place. In the men’s steeplechase the Pirates placed third, fourth and fifth with senior Grant Bingham leading the way with a time of 10:26, and freshmen Jacob Clark and Joel Mott finishing in 10:28 and 10:37. In the 100 meter, senior Jacob Sturnevent finished in fourth place with a time of 11.31.

Next up track and field will compete at The Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma on Saturday March 31st, with the first event beginning at 10 a.m.