The rain was coming down and the wind was blowing in Lacey at the Jay Hammer Meet at Saint Martin’s University. But that didn’t stop first-year Rebecca Troescher from winning the 400-meter dash for the second meet in a row.
“Rebecca had some early-season struggles. That is not uncommon for freshmen, on occasion. These last couple of meets have been good for her, and much of that has come from her belief in herself, her capabilities and her training. We are looking forward to seeing if she can keep this positive trend going this coming week in California,” said assistant coach Chris Reed.
Troescher ran the race in under a minute for the first time in her career, with a time of 59.13. Fellow first-year Krystal Kaufman finished right behind Troescher at 1:00.29.
A race where the Falcon women dominated was the 1500-meter run. The Falcons had five runners finish in the top ten. Dania Holmberg, Kate Lilly and Kaylee Mitchell finished first, second and third, while Kelsey Washenberger finished sixth and Katherine Walter finished tenth.
“The 1500m runners succeeded this weekend due to their commitment to being competitive and confident,” said Reed. “The conditions were the opposite of ideal, so the ladies needed to be resilient in order to succeed. They did just that. Also, it helped that they had each other to work with.”
The Falcon women also took five of the top 10 spots in the 100m dash, all with times under 13 seconds. Julia Stepper won the race, and Grace Bley, Peace Igbonagwam and Jenna Bouyer finished third, fourth and fifth. These four also led the Falcons to a win in the 4x100m relay. Anna Farner rounded out the top 10 in the 100m, and also ran to a fifth-place finish in the 200m dash.
In other running events for the Falcon Women, Elizabeth Thompson took a third-place finish in the 800m with a time of 2:19.95. McKenzie Diaz finished in eighth in the 3000m run.
In the pole vault, Emma Lambert and Madison Licari finished in a tie for third, both clearing the bar at 10 feet and 11.5 inches.
Geneva Lehnert finished in a tie for sixth in the high jump clearing the bar at 4 feet and 11.5 inches. Scout Cai took sixth place in the javelin, throwing a distance of 121 feet and 9 inches.
The Falcon men had two athletes set personal best performances at the meet. Shayne Carpenter broke the 16 second mark in the 110-meter hurdles for the first time in his career, running a 15.87. The time was good enough for seventh place, and Carpenter also finished in eighth in the 400-meter hurdles.
Meanwhile, Silas Newby jumped a full foot over his previous college best in the triple jump. The jump of 42 feet and 11.5 inches was good enough for third place. In the pole vault, Sean Barbour and Davis Flintoff tied for third, getting over the bar at 12 feet and 11.5 inches.
Jesse Phan had one of the best finishes on the day for the Falcon men, as he took third in the 800m run with a time of 1:58.06. Shad Galloway also took a third-place finish home in the 3000m run, and Colin Boutin finished in eighth. Joseph Perkins finished in fifth in the 10000m run, and in the 1500m run, Colby Otero finished in sixth and Elius Graff finished in eighth.
Things will be getting sunnier for the Falcons next weekend, as they head to California for two separate meets, one in Azusa and one in Long Beach.
Coach Reed thinks that the Falcons will be able to use the good weather to their advantage, saying, “The weather forecast in SoCal projects conditions we are definitely excited about.
The sprinters, jumpers and multis will have warm temperatures, and that nearly always aids performance for those athletes.
The heat is not favorable for the long-distance athletes, but those races are scheduled to be run in the cooler evenings under the lights. We couldn’t ask for a better set of circumstances.
This coming weekend will provide a wonderful opportunity for high-level performances, and we are confident our team can take full advantage.”
