Diles soars to record pole vault

At nearly nine hours long, there was a lot of “middle” to the Cougar Invitational track and field meet Saturday in Pullman – but the best came at the beginning and the end.

Washington State senior Tamara Diles got things rolling with meet, school outdoor and Mooberry Track records in the women’s pole vault, and teammates Matt Lamb and Drew Ulrick finished things off with some one-upmanship in the discus as the Cougs won 19 of 38 events.

Diles arched more than 13 feet, 11 1/4 inches on her first attempt, the second-best mark in school history behind her indoor 14-3 1/4 mark in 2002.

Things were much closer in the men’s discus. Ulrick took over the lead from Idaho’s Russ Winger with a second-round spin of 180-4. Lamb jumped into first with a 182-6 toss in the fourth round, but Ulrick responded with 185-8 in the fifth – only to see Lamb uncork a 187-7 monster on his final attempt. Ulrick’s last try taped out at 185-3.

The day produced two double winners – James McSwain of WSU in the sprints (10.60 and 21.29 seconds into headwinds) and Rashad Toussaint of Community Colleges of Spokane in the long jump (23-5 1/2) and triple jump (48-10 3/4).

Idaho’s throwers were in good form, Winger increasing his season shot put best to 63-7, and hammer thrower Jen Broncheau nailing a school-record 181-1, an NCAA regional qualifier. The Vandals also went 1-2-3 in the men’s hammer, Jake Boling joining already qualified Marcus Mattox (195-1) and Matthew Wauters (193-8) on the regional list with a toss of 188-2.

•Kristi Dickey took second in the women’s 5,000 as Whitworth finished third at the Northwest Conference Championships in Salem, Ore.

Dickey finished in 18:16.44, less than 9 seconds behind Pacific’s Shana Shosky (18:07.82), as the Pirates finished with 106.33 team points. Willamette won its fifth straight title, finishing with 210.83 points.

On the men’s side, Whitworth got second-place finishes from Brandon Howell in the 800 (1:56.28) and Derrick Dewindt in the discus (138-8) en route to a fifth-place team finish.

The Pirates finished with 93 team points. Willamette won its fifth straight team title, racking up 182 points.

•Former Rogers runner Rebekah Noble took fifth in the women’s 400 at the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, finishing in 55.74

Washington senior Seth Perrins of Tekoa, Wash., cleared a career-best 16-6 3/4 to win the pole vault and reach an NCAA regional qualifying mark.