The Arizona men’s and women’s track teams came up with strong performances and some disappointments Sunday in the concluding day of the Pac 12 track and field championships at the UA’s Drachman Stadium.
With the meet still underway at the Star’s press time, Oregon led the men’s competition with 157 points, followed by UCLA with 134, Arizona with 86 and Washington with 79.
In the women’s competition with five events yet to be finished, USC led with 136, followed by Oregon with 96 and Colorado at 68. Arizona was in sixth place with 51ƒ points.
The individual highlight for the Wildcats was high jumper Karla Teran, a junior from Nogales, Sonora. She not only won her event by clearing 6 feet, 2 inches, but she tied for the second-best jump this year in the NCAA. It was the 13th-best jump in the world this year.
Teran’s teammate Alexa Porpaczy finished third (5-7¼) and Diana Ramos (5-5¼) tied for sixth to give the Wildcats 18ƒ points in the event.
In a highlight for the men’s team, James Smith set a school record by sprinting around the 400-meter hurdles in 49.93. The freshman from Mesa finished in third place while teammate Maksims Sincukovs was sixth in 50.87.
Before the meet, Arizona’s head coach Fred Harvey hinted that he had a surprise up his sleeve. Apparently it was running Maj Williams as the anchor on the Cats’ 4x100 relay team. Williams took the baton after Trevor Volpe, Zakee Washington and PJ Austin. Williams blazed the final 100 meters to finish in second place in the time of 39.56 seconds.
Later, in the individual 400-meter dash, Washington finished third in 46.40 in a rare instance in which he finished faster than Williams, who placed fifth in 46.50
The women’s 4x100 team of Tiana Bonds, Tatum Waggoner, Pamela White and Neysia Howard placed fourth in 44.80.
Howard also secured a sixth in the long jump (19-7) and Bonds took sixth in the 100 hurdles in 13.43.
In the 400 hurdles, Karolina Pahlitzsch placed third and Shannon Meisburger fifth in 57.10 and 57.95, respectively.
It was no surprise that UA’s Jordan Geist performed well. He had won the shot put and finished third in the hammer throw on Saturday. On Sunday, he came through again, this time in the discus with a throw of 186-9 for third.
In all, Geist accounted for 22 points, equaling his production from last year.
Harvey had said before the meet that the Wildcats could afford few missteps because of the lack of team depth, And, Harvey said, those team members who were expected to score significant points had to come through.
Yet, disappointments hurt the Wildcats’ bid to contend for the conference title.
Justice Summerset, who came into the meet with the conference’s best mark in the high jump, 7-4½, managed to clear only 6–9¾ for seventh.
Teammate Justin Lewis placed sixth with a jump of 6-11. Earnie Sears of USC won at 7-5¾
UA’s Carlos Villarreal, who had the fastest time coming into the meet in the 1,500 — 3:37.22 — ended up in fourth in 3:50.74. As often happens in championships, the race became “tactical,” meaning the runners did not go out to achieve their fastest time but just to win. Villlarreal hung back and was not able to move up higher. William Paulson of ASU won the 1,500 in 3:49.18.
Later, in the 800 meters, Villarreal was in last (ninth) place for much of the race. He put on a strong kick in the last 100-plus meters to end up in third in 3:50.7.
The UA’s Bailey Roth, who had clocked the conference’s fastest time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, led at the midpoint of the race, which was run late Saturday after a three-hour delay because of lightning and rain. But in the last 600 meters, he was overtaken by Steven Fehy of Stanford, who won in 8:43.85. Roth placed second in 8:50.07.
Like Saturday night, lightning strikes in the region delayed the meet for a couple of hours Sunday.
