Senior Jimmy Rhoads won the Texas Relays pole vault title in Austin, Texas on April 5, setting a new school record for the Washington Huskies. Rhoads cleared 18 feet, 10 and one-quarter inches in his outdoor season opener, surpassing the previous mark set by Scott Toney last season at 18 feet, nine and one-half inches. This achievement follows Rhoads’ third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships and moves him to No. 2 in the NCAA outdoor rankings.
The event was also attended by Veronica Vacca and Sara Borton, but both athletes did not clear the opening bar due to a lengthy weather delay and challenging winds during the women’s competition.
Meanwhile, most of the Husky squad competed at the Stanford Invitational. Chloe Foerster took third place in the top heat of the women’s 800 meters with a time of 2:01.76. Jenica Swartz finished with a time of 2:03.13, moving her into seventh place on Washington’s all-time outdoor list for that event.
On the men’s side at Stanford, Martin Barco secured second overall in his heat of the men’s 800 meters with a time of 1:49.00. Sofia Cosculluela achieved victory in the finals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 13.41 seconds, improving her standing as fourth fastest in school history for that event.
Other notable performances included Jonathan Frazier finishing fourth in the men’s 110-meter hurdles final with a time of 14.39 seconds against a headwind; Trevontay Smith and Roman Hutchinson securing first and second respectively for Washington’s men’s triple jumpers; Ava Washburn winning her section in women’s triple jump; Chiche Okemgbo earning a personal best throw in women’s discus; and Rhonday Newton, Chloe Symon, Sena Pittman, and Anna Terrell placing tenth overall in their relay.
