Arizona men dominate in discus, capture Jim Click Shootout championship

With a team victory hanging in the balance, the University of Arizona men’s track and field team finished first, second and fifth in the discus Saturday to outduel Illinois in the Jim Click Shootout at Drachman Stadium.

Tucsonan Turner Washington unleashed a toss of 183 feet 5 inches in his final attempt to win the discus over teammate Jordan Geist, who threw 182-1. With Grayson Fleming placing fifth at 164-3, the Wildcats amassed 22 points in the event for a total of 171, edging Illinois by 10.

The UA women’s team, meanwhile, finished second to highly-ranked Kansas State. In the meet’s closing event, Katelin Warren ran a sizzling final lap in the women’s 1,600-meter relay to overcome Ohio State and win in 3:35.68. Running before Warren were Tatum Waggoner, Karolina Pahlitzsch and Brena Andrews. The team’s time is expected to be among the nation’s top 20 when new NCAA listings are published next week.

With the relay win, the women moved ahead of Auburn in the final standings.

The Wildcats “came together really well as a unit against great competition,” coach Fred Harvey said. He expressed optimism that his athletes will continue to build momentum heading into the Pac-12 championships, which begin May 12.

In her first 400-meter race at UA, Pahlitzsch ran 57.88 seconds, her fastest-ever time, to finish second. In the men’s 400 hurdles, Maksims Sincukovs of Latvia placed second in 50.96 in his first hurdles event on American soil.

Sincukovs also ran a lap in the UA’s winning 1,600-meter relay, along with Daniel Egbo, Isaac Hing and Maj Williams. Their time of 3:09.04 could be listed in the nation’s top 30 following this weekend’s meets.

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The UA men’s team depth proved instrumental in the steeplechase, where Pac-12 champion Bailey Roth ran 9:08.33 to lead 1-2-3 Arizona finish. The same was true in the 800, where Carlos Villarreal, a Rio Rico High School graduate, won in 1:49.22, followed by Wildcat Collins Kibet in third and Gustavs Kehris in sixth.

Geist followed up his second place in the discus with first in the shot put at 64-7¼ and second in the hammer throw at 199-2.

Justice Summerset, a Mountain View High grad, cleared 7-0½ for second in the high jump. In addition to his role in the 1,600 relay, Williams was second in the 400 dash in 46.73 and third in the 200 in 21.15.

Two Wildcat women scored victories in the distances with Claire Green clocking 4:22.76 in the 1,500 and Addi Zerrener easily winning the 3,000 in 10:05.87.

Karla Teran was second in the high jump at 5-8¾ and Warren came through with a second in the 800 meters in 2:11.52.

In the final standings, the UA men had 171 points, followed by Illinois, 161 points; Ohio State, 113; Kansas State, 100; Auburn, 75, and Cincinnati, 57.

The Kansas State women won with 154 points, followed by the UA with 125; Auburn, 121; Cincinnati, 107; Illinois, 90, and Ohio State, 83.