TACOMA, Wash. – Led by three NCAA Division II provisional marks in the women's javelin competition, the Western Washington University Track & Field team opened the 2019 outdoor season with a pair of first-place team finishes at the Ed Boitano Invitational hosted Saturday by the University of Puget Sound at Baker Stadium.
Junior Raquel Pellecer (47.31m/155-2), freshman Paige Shimkus (44.53m/146-1) and sophomore Hannah Nienaber (41.85m/137-4) all blew past the provisional qualifying mark of 41.59m/136-5. In early-season returns, Pellecer is ranked No. 2 nationally behind Angelo State freshman Talena Murray (47.67m/156-5).
Overall the Vikings won both the men's and women's competitions at the Ed Boitano Invitational. The men scored 178.5 points, well ahead of second-place Whitworth with 141 points. The women scored 199 points, also well ahead of second-place Whitworth with 117.5 points.
|
Men's Team Scores
|
|
Women's Team Scores
|
|
1
|
Western Washington
|
178.5
|
1
|
Western Washington
|
199
|
|
2
|
Whitworth
|
141
|
2
|
Whitworth
|
117.5
|
|
3
|
Saint Martin's
|
83
|
3
|
Saint Martin's
|
83
|
|
4
|
Olympic College
|
69
|
4
|
Lewis & Clark
|
72
|
|
5
|
Lewis & Clark
|
55.5
|
5
|
Puget Sound
|
53.5
|
|
6
|
Seattle Pacific
|
53
|
6
|
Olympic College
|
36
|
|
7
|
Puget Sound
|
51
|
7
|
Seattle Pacific
|
34
|
|
8
|
Tacoma Running Club
|
4
|
8
|
Central Washington
|
15
|
|
9
|
Everett CC
|
3
|
9
|
Everett CC
|
4
|
WWU 11 individual event winners, with five on the women's team and six on the men's team:
Complete results from the Ed Boitano Invitational can be downloaded at the following link:
The Vikings will again head south to the Tacoma area next week competing in the PLU Open on Saturday, March 9 on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University.
WWU will again host two home events, beginning with the WWU Team Invitational on April 5 and the Ralph Vernacchia Track & Field Meet on April 27. Both home events will be held at Civic Stadium in Bellingham.
WWU's long tradition in the javelin includes recent women's national champions Monika Gruszecki (2007 & 2011) and Bethany Drake (2014 & 2017), four-time First Team All-American Katie Reichert (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016) and current Viking Raquel Pellecer who was a First Team All-American last season.
For the men, Alex Harrison (2010), Slater Hirst (2014, 2015), John Haskin (2014, 2016) and Alex Barry (2018) have all been javelin All-Americans for the WWU men in the last nine years.
