WEEKEND RECAP: SeattleU's Melu breaks school record in HJ: Mondor highlghts; Coleman breaks EWU hammer SR...

In Spokane, SeattleU’s Shaddye Melu (above/photo courtesy Seattle University) has a strong double victory to highlight competition on the men’s side at the annual WAR IX (Washington Against the Region) pitting schools from the state of Washington against other schools in the Northwest region.

Melu broke his own outdoor school record in the high jump, clearing a best of 7-0.5 (2.15m) on his third attempt to easily win the competition.   He ended the jumping with three misses at 7-2.5 (2.20m).

Melu also won the men’s 400 in 48.24.

Other highlights in the men’s competition from Washington athletes included:

—Troy Fraley of Gonzaga, who is competing unattached winning the 1500 in 3:51.38 over Sumner Goodwin of the Zags; 

—Larry Still of Eastern Washington won the pole vault with a clearance of 15-11 (4.85m);

—Central Washington’s Luke Plummer won the triple jump with a mark of 48-8.25 (14.84m), while teammate Armando Tafoya won the hammer with a toss of 190-5 (58.04m); 

—Whitworth’s Andrew Bloom threw the javelin 219-2 (66.80m) to take the national lead in Division III in that event.

In the women’s competition, Whitworth’s Kayla Leland won an close 800 meter race over Eastern Washington’s Katie Mahoney, in a time of 2:11.82 to 2:11.95.

Gonzaga’s Maggie Jones won the 1500 in 4:36.53 over NCAA steeplechase qualifiers Dani Eggleston of Central Washington (4:39.79) and Shelby Mills (4:43.39) of Gonzaga.

Central Washington’s Tayler Fettig won the high jump with a best of 5-7 (1.70m), while Eastern Washington’s Erin Clark and Anandae Clark were in a 4-way tie for first in the pole vault along with Stephanie Wright of Spokane CC and Carrie Jacka of Montana at 12-1.5 (3.70m).


At the Emilie Mondor Invitational hosted by Simon Fraser University in Burnaby on Saturday, Western Washington’s Alex Barry won the men’s javelin with a toss of 195-1 (59.48m).

Seattle Pacific’s Jalen Tims ran a personal best 1:01.10 to win the 400 hurdles, a time that ranks in the top ten in Division II nationally.

The Falcons’ Lynelle Decker won the 1500 in 4:30.17, which also puts her in the top ten in Division II, though she would most likely drop that event for the national championships.

SPU freshman Geneva Lehnert won the high jump with a clearance of 5-5 (1.65m).


In Cheney on Friday, Eastern Washington’s Kaytlyn Coleman broke the school record in the hammer and won the shot put, while Sarah Reiter took down the meet record in the 1500 to highlight the Eagles’ 76-72 dual meet win over Montana at the Pelluer Invitational.

Coleman threw the hammer 200-1 (61.00) to break the previous school record of 199-8 set by Nicole Luckenbach in 2010.  Coleman’s mark is currently #19 on the NCAA Division I performance list.

Reiter ran the second fastest time in school history, to break the old meet record of 4:29.1 set by Idaho’s Sherrie Crang in 1983, as she clocked 4:28.93.

Joey Payne of the Eagles threw a personal best of 219-3 (66.82m) to win the men’s javelin to help lead the Eagles to a 53-50 win over Montana in the men’s competition.


All nine of Washington’s D1 and D2 schools will have a presence in several meets in Southern California this coming weekend, highlighted by the Mt. SAC Relays and the Beach Invitational.

NOTE:  The sports information offices of Gonzaga, Western Washington, Seattle University, Seattle Pacific, and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.

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