SPOKANE, Wash. – The Vandals wrapped up the Whitworth Peace Meet on Friday evening in Spokane. The single-day event proved to be successful as 15 Vandals earned spots on the podium. Of those 15, nine finished in first place.
Jurrian Hering shined in the sprint events, earning two podium finishes in the 100m and the 110m hurdles. He placed second in the 100m with a time of 10.74. Later in the day, he earned first place in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.64. Hering's time in the 100m currently ranks fourth overall in the Big Sky.
On the women's side, Elise Abbott and Abigail Thomas placed third in the 800m and the 1500m. Abbott made it to the podium in the 800m with an outdoor best time of 2:13.98. The time currently ranks sixth in the Big Sky. Thomas ran a career best of 4:42.70 in the 1500m.
The Vandals excelled in the field, earning four first-place finishes in throw events and four in jump events. Weston Jeffries earned gold in the hammer throw with a distance of 45.11m. Reid Thomas was right behind Jeffries in third place with a personal best mark of 43.30m. In the javelin throw, Nathyn Maller earned first place for the first time this season with a mark of 60.07m. Noah Culbertson picked up first place in the shot put for the second time this season with a distance of 17.32m. Mia Sylvester rounded out the throwing squad's success with a first-place finish in the discus throw. Sylvester threw for a personal best distance of 44.80m. Sylvester and Maller's marks currently rank second and 10th in the Big Sky.
In the sand pit, Justyn Rogers earned gold in the long jump with a distance of 7.25m. Landon Peterson earned bronze with a distance of 6.70m. Rogers' mark currently ranks third in the Big Sky. Simone Fedel won the triple jump with an outdoor best distance of 14.20m. Fedel ranks sixth in the Big Sky. Tayler LyDay and Ellie Grant went one and two in the triple jump with distances of 11.73m and 11.33m, respectively.
Joseph Ruddell earned yet another first-place finish in the high jump with a height of 2.07m. On the women's side, Annika Jozin earned second with a finishing height of 1.57m.
The Vandals have a busy upcoming week of competition as they split up at three meets. Idaho will travel to California for the Mt. Sac Relays (Wednesday-Saturday) and the Long Beach Invitational (Friday-Saturday). The rest of the crew will return to Spokane for the Whitworth Twilight (Thursday).
