Grant Buckmiller, Raykiyat Olukoju Win 200-Meter Dashes At The Podium

By Cam McCann for DyeStat

Photos by Luca Gillis

SPOKANE, Wash. – The first day of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor Championships provided multiple top NCAA efforts, with a hotly contested pair of distance medley relays that elated the crowd in The Podium.

Early on, all eyes were on Cal State Northridge senior Trey Knight, who threw the NCAA’s top weight throw distance earlier in the indoor season. Knight’s performance gave fans something to cheer about, tossing the weight 23.26 meters (76-3.75) – nearly four meters farther than second place. 

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Knight's mark was just a little shy of Conor McCullough's meet record. 

Grant Buckmiller from Washington State and Raykiyat Olukoju of UC-Riverside kept the theme of high-level sprints at The Podium in the 200 meters. Buckmiller’s 20.72 gave him a .07 lead on second-place Chase Mars of Northridge, and gave him the NCAA’s No. 14 time as well as a personal and meet record in the men's final.

Olukoju’s time of 23.30 was good for the No. 33 NCAA time on the women's list as well as a season's best.

Kyle Jankans of Long Beach State won the men’s high jump with a clearance at 2.14m, giving him a personal record and the NCAA’s No. 39 mark. AJ McGloflin of Washington State also made 2.14m (7-0.25).

Gavin Dimick of Washington State won the pole vault with 5.20m (17-0.25). Tatum Moku later completed a Cougs sweep after a 4.36m (14-3.50) jump in the women’s pole vault.

Long Beach State’s Claudine Raud-Gumiel took the victory in the women's pentathlon with 3,977 points. Raud-Gumiel excelled in the 60-meter hurdles, where she won in a person-best time of 8.39 seconds. 

Giszelle Hrehor was able to give Beach another win in the field events with a 19.56m (64-2.25) toss in the women’s weight throw, good for the No. 69 mark in the NCAA.

Kadidja Sangare of UC Davis won the women's long jump with a her best mark of 5.97m (19-7). Aaron Fruge of UC-Riverside won the men’s long with a distance of 7.38m (24-2.50), a personal best.

Jona Bodirsky of Portland won the men's 5,000 meters in 14:15.77 after Washington State’s Evans Kurui, who finished in 13:47, was disqualified for taking a step inside the curb on one of the turns.

On the women’s side, UC Davis senior Dani Barrett dashed Oregon State’s hopes of a win after grabbing a lead on Beavers' Kate Laurent and Delaney Griffin. Barrett’s time of 16:24 gave her the win. 

The DMRs ended the first day festivities on the track, and provided energy into the crowd.

Portland’s men won the men's race in 9:53.53 thanks to a kick on the final lap that created a two-second gap over Beach. Washington State’s women came out on top after a back-and-forth affair with Oregon State, as the two finished in 11:23.57 and 11:23.80, respectively.