Probasco-Canda leads another WSU win over UW

PULLMAN – There was comfort in the predictability of Saturday’s Washington State-Washington track and field dual.

Picking the winners – WSU’s women and the Huskies men – was a no-brainer. The final scores were maybe a point either direction of an educated guess. And even an athlete who promised herself that she wouldn’t get caught up in the best-the-Huskies noise inevitably did – at least once presented with the opportunity.

Actually, Brandi Probasco-Canda didn’t look as if she was giving herself much of chance halfway through the women’s 400 meters – running well in arrears of UW’s Lauran Dignam even taking into account the staggered start. But that changed dramatically in the final straightaway, the junior from Portland catching Dignam in the last few strides and posting her fastest 400 in a WSU uniform – 54.17 seconds.

“The whole time I wasn’t even worried about winning the race,” she insisted. “I was just going for (an NCAA) regional qualifying time, and so maybe I started more relaxed than I should have.

“But with all the cheering and stuff, I just decided to go for it. The last 100, I thought, ‘She’s not too far ahead – I can catch her.’ ” It was the second straight year Probasco-Canda upset her Huskies rival, who still broke her school record with a 54.31 in second. And while Probasco-Canda acknowledged that while “not really caring” whether she won or lost doesn’t quite square with coach Rick Sloan’s approach to the UW dual, she said, “I think he’ll be happy with this.”

You could say. The Cougars beat UW’s women for the ninth time in the last 10 years, 111.5-91.5, a half-point more than last spring’s score.

The big damage was again done in the field, where WSU’s 25-point edge would decide the meet – and where thrower McKenzie Garberg won twice with lifetime bests in the discus (166 feet, 1 inch) and hammer (179-10).

But Probasco-Canda’s victory signaled there wouldn’t be any leakage on the track. Teammate LaShawnda Porter followed with a significant lifetime best of 11.83 in the 100, chasing UW zephyr Ashley Lodree to the finish line, and later blasted another PR of 24.06 to win the 200.

“It’s either the weather,” Porter said of the 70-degree afternoon, “or it’s – shoot, what’s the word for running against UW? Adrenaline.”

The Cougars men had some of that, too. What they didn’t have was enough ways of making up Washington’s edge in athletes, falling for the second straight year 112-91.

“We just weren’t as good as them,” said Sloan. “We were already behind by nine on my dope sheet going into it and we kept looking to put plusses up there, but with that scoring system (5-3-2-1), it’s hard to get caught back up You have to win races – you can’t do it with seconds and thirds.”

The men made their biggest splash – again, mostly predictable – in the sprints with James McSwain, Jaycee Robertson and Justin Woods running 1-2-3 in both the 100 and 200. They were especially jazzed about the half-lapper, with both McSwain (20.90) and Robertson (20.99) dipping less than 21 seconds with a legal wind – but in the celebration, McSwain rolled his left ankle, which darkened the mood a bit.

“I’m not too worried about it,” said McSwain, who left Mooberry Track in a protective boot nonetheless. “I’ve had so many ankle sprains just at WSU and it doesn’t feel any worse than any of them have been. I’ll be back for Pac-10s.”

Two meet records fell. The marvelous Lodree also got the Mooberry mark in the 100 hurdles with a swift 13.25 – and pulled WSU heptathlete Katie Miller to a huge PR of 13.86 in second. UW’s Shane Charles won the day’s most anticipated showdown, his 50.18 holding off John Cassleman in the intermediate hurdles despite the Cougar’s lifetime best of 50.28.

“I felt myself closing the gap, but he must have farted or something in that last few strides,” Cassleman said. “He won’t escape next time.”

One other big Dawg got away – thrower Will Conwell, who cracked the 200-foot mark in the discus last week, came back with a 193-9 toss to turn back fast-improving Drew Ulrick and Matt Lamb of WSU, who both had PRs more than 187.