Area roundup: Freshman Cougar wins pentathlon

Washington State’s Alissa Brooks-Johnson and Austin Sodorff won individual events to lead the Cougars on the first day of the Cougar Indoor track and field meet Friday in Pullman.

Brooks-Johnson, a freshman, won the pentathlon after scoring 3,521 points – the sixth-best total in WSU history.

Sodorff and John Brenteson finished first and second, respectively, in the men’s pole vault. Sodorff equaled his career-best mark of 16 feet, 4 3/4 inches. Brenteson cleared 15-5.

Idaho had three event champions. The Vandals’ Kaytlyn Coleman won the women’s weight throw with a toss of 59-11 3/4, Kyle Rothwell won the men’s weight throw (58-2 1/2) and Arphaxad Carroll won the men’s long jump (23-9 1/2).

The meet continues this morning, starting at 10.

• Gonzaga’s Amelia Evans finished second in her heat and 16th overall in the women’s 5,000-meter run on the first day of the University of Washington Invitational in Seattle.

Evans finished in 17 minutes, 16.31 seconds, less than a second shy of the school record.

GU’s Patrick Richie finished 14th in the men’s 5,000 meters. His time of 14:57.36 was a personal best and third fastest in school history.

The meet continues today.

Wrestling

North Idaho won eight of 10 matches and beat Iowa Western 35-10 in a dual in Coeur d’Alene.

The closest match of the contest came at 149 pounds, with NIC’s Jeremy Golding defeating Tyler Nation 6-5.

Bryce Weatherston (133 pounds), Tyler McLean (165) and V.J. Giulio (197) all recorded pins for the Cardinals.

The biggest rout came in the heavyweight class, with NIC’s Taylor Kornoely defeating Nate Judge 18-3.

Softball

After splitting its season-opening doubleheader with Chapman on Thursday, Whitworth improved to 3-1 with a pair of wins over La Verne (0-2) in Claremont, Calif.

The Pirates won the opener 9-1 and the nightcap 11-1.

Whitworth will play a doubleheader against host Redlands (Calif.) today.

Baseball

Northwest Conference coaches picked Whitworth to finished fourth in the NWC this season.

The Pirates were 14-25-1 last season, including 8-16 in conference play.

Linfield, the defending Division III national champion, was selected as the overwhelming favorite to repeat as league champion.