Three WUSTL School Records Fall on Day One of UAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
SATURDAY RESULTS
Cleveland, Ohio, Feb. 23, 2013 – Sophomore Lucy Cheadle, junior Anna Etherington, and freshman Emily Warner each set Washington University in St. Louis school records to highlight several strong performances for the WUSTL women’s and men’s track & field teams on the first day of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships Saturday at Case Western Reserve University.
Through five events, the Washington University women are first in the team standings with 49 points, while the University of Chicago is second with 32 points. The Washington U. men are fifth in the team standings with 20 points, behind Carnegie Mellon University (44), Case Western Reserve (34), Emory University (26), and Chicago (25).
Cheadle and Etherington each broke school records in bringing home individual titles on the first day of competition. Cheadle raced to first place in the women’s 5,000 meters with a time of 17:04.20, more than 10 seconds ahead of the runner-up. The time bettered the previous school record of 17:07.80 set by Emily Richard in 1999, and also broke the UAA meet record of 17:04.80 set in 2010.
Etherington improved her own school record from a week ago in the women’s pole vault, winning the event with a clearance of 3.97 meters. It was the third-straight UAA indoor championship in the pole vault for Etherington, who had set the WUSTL school record at 3.96m last week. Saturday’s mark also broke the previous UAA meet record of 3.68m set in 2008 by WUSTL’s Morgen Leonard-Fleckman. Sophomore Claire Simons and junior Moira Killoran both cleared a height of 3.36m to tie for third in the pole vault.
Warner had a big day for the Bears in the prelims of the sprint events, advancing to the finals of both the 200 and 400. She set the school record in the women’s 400 with a time of 58.47, which was .07 of a second better than Valerie Lasko’s 2003 record. Warner also qualfified for the 200 final by clocking a season-best time of 25.97, which ranks third on Washington U.’s all-time leaderboard.
Senior Anne Diaz-Arrastia and junior Jasmine Williams also earned all-UAA honors by finishing second and third, respectively, in the women’s long jump. Diaz-Arrastia recorded a career-best leap of 5.67m to finish as the conference runner-up. The mark ranks second on Washington University’s all-time leaderboard. Williams also posted a career-best, placing third with a leap of 5.43m.
Junior Kevin Sparks was the top finisher for the Washington U. men, leading three top-six finishers in the 5,000. Sparks finished second in the event with a time of 14:52.62, while senior David Hamm (14:59.37) and junior Michael Ellenberger (15:10.78) placed fourth and sixth, respectively.
The men’s and women’s distance medley relays both finished fourth during Saturday’s competition. Junior Madison Cannon added a sixth-place finish in the women’s weight throw (11.20m), while freshmen Mitchell Styczynski (1.79m) and Alex Arteaga (1.74m) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the men’s high jump.
In addition to Warner advancing to the 200 and 400 finals, the Washington U. women had five other individuals move on to Sunday’s event finals – juniors Ahkianne Wanliss and Katie Sandson in the 55; freshmen Bri Tiffany and Lane Porter in the 800; and freshman Natasha Tillett in the 55 hurdles. The WUSTL men had six individuals advance to event finals from Saturday’s prelims – sophomore Nick Alaniva and senior Ryan Doll in the 55; Doll in the 200; freshman James Fitzhugh and junior Arthur Townsend in the 400; sophomore Brendan Stone in the 800; and Styczynski in the 55 hurdles.
The UAA Indoor Track & Field Championships conclude Sunday, Feb. 24, in Cleveland. Field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (ET), with running events getting started at Noon (ET).