By: Jeff Evans, Assistant AD for Athletic Communications
MOSCOW, Idaho – Competing just down the road from her hometown, sophomore Nicole Avery set a PR and placed 7th in the pentathlon with 2,860 points to highlight the performances by the WWU Track & Field team at the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open inside the Kibbie Dome.
Avery, a native of Pullman, Washington, broker her previous PR of 2,841 points set at the 2023 GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Her PR performance was highlighted by a 4th-place finish in the long jump setting an indoor PR with a mark of 5.23m/17-2 and a personal-best mark of 9.86m/32-4.25 in the shot put.
Sophomores Karma Walker (10th, 2,397 points), Tess King (11th, 2,341 points) and Cassandra Schulberg (12th, 2,308 points) rounded out Vikings competitors in the five-event pentathlon.
Through four events of the seven-event men's heptathlon, freshman Kaden Miller is in 8th place out of 17 competitors with 2,277 points. Miller's strong first-day performance was fueled by 7th-place finishes in the long jump (6.12m/20-1) and high jump (1.78m/5-10).
Freshman Joey Brown (10th, 2,237 points) and sophomore Owen Windrope (12th, 2,192 points) also had strong first-day performances in the heptathlon with the final three events on Saturday.
Junior Kurt Montero led the Vikings in the men's pole vault placing 10th out of 22 competitors clearing an indoor PR of 4.30m/14-1.25. Montero went for a PR at 4.45m/14-7.25, but did not clear the bar. Freshman Isaiah Cummings cleared 4.00m/13-1.5 to tie for 13th place.
The final day of the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open begins with the 60m hurdles of the men's heptathlon at 9 am and the women's pole vault is set to start at 2 pm.
The Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open will feature live coverage for both days of the meets with live results provided by Finished Results and a webcast of the event available on ESPN+.
The Vikings return to action next week with a full squad of competitors expected to compete in the UW Invitational January 31 & February 1 at Dempsey Indoor on the University of Washington campus in Seattle. The complete indoor schedule is available online at WWUVikings.com.
