TEMPE, Arizona – Career best marks in the hammer and 1,500 meters highlighted the Aggies performance on the first day of action at the Baldy Castillo Invitational on the Arizona State University campus. The meet continues Saturday with a large contingent of Texas A&M athletes in action.
Austin Cook finished second in the men's hammer with a career best toss of 201-0 (61.28) while Alison Ondrusek recorded four marks that surpassed her previous PR to place third in the women's hammer with a 193-1 (58.86) mark.
Cook added nearly two feet to his previous best of 199-2 as he made adjustments after fouling his first two attempts. A safety throw in round three produced a 197-9 (60.27) that enabled him to take three more throws in the final.
In the fourth round Cook managed to reach his best distance, moving from fourth place to second in the event and improving his No. 2 position on the Aggie all-time list. Minnesota's Gian Ferretti won the competition with an impressive toss of 226-2 (68.94).
“It definitely was pretty tough transitioning from the weight throw to the hammer,” noted Cook. “I'm still deep in transition. Today I had to do a bunch of three-turn throws. My four-turn approach is not working out right now. Once I get my four-turn down then big throws are going to come. I'm satisfied with the improvement I had today with the first meet of the outdoor season.”
Ondrusek also had a pair of fouls amid her first three attempts, but a second round effort of 186-6 (56.86), which was a PR by nearly four feet, had her safely advancing to the finals. Ondrusek hit 186-6 (58.85) again in round four.
Then in the fifth round she improved her career best to 193-1, which makes her the No. 3 performer with the No. 6 performance on the A&M all-time list. Oklahoma's Julia Reedy won the event with a 200-2 (61.02) throw while Iowa's Annemie Smith finished second at 197-9 (60.28).
“It's rough going from weight to hammer, it's almost like a brand new event,” said Ondrusek. “I can't ask for a better start to the outdoor season, though. It was a big PR for me and I was consistent with my throws today. I'm just looking to break more and more records as I go. I feel good going into the season now.”
Aggie Carissa van Beek, throwing this weight of hammer for the first time in competition, finished 16th as a mark of 170-0 (51.83) moved her to No. 6 on the Aggie all-time list.
The evening portion of the meet included multiple heats of the 1,500 meters where Cameron Villarreal and Hillary Montgomery were the top A&M finishers.
Villarreal set a career best of 3:45.43 to place fifth in the men's race while Montgomery posted a 4:27.82 for eighth in the women's race. Montgomery and Villarreal each moved to No. 6 on the Aggie all-time list. Montgomery improved upon her 4:31.08 from last season while Villarreal lowered his previous best of 3:46.96.
Racing in the same heat with Villarreal were teammates Isaac Spencer (3:47.43) and Alex Riba (3:48.66) to place ninth and 11th, respectively. Spencer improved his time as the No. 12 performer on the A&M all-time list. Grace Fletcher ran in the same heat with Montgomery and recorded a time of 4:35.80 for 17th in that race and 19th overall.
Katie Willard won the first heat of the women's 1,500 in a career best 4:31.83 and placed 11th overall among the 30 entrants. Willard, who had a previous best of 4:39.05, moves to No. 10 on the Aggie all-time list.
In earlier heats of the men's 1,500 the best effort by the Aggies came from Ian Cazares, who placed sixth in the first heat with a 3:52.58. The second heat had four A&M runners finishing in a group for places 7-10. The crew included Nathan Ricketts (3:52.63), Ryan Miller (3:53.71), Colin Slattery (3:54.18), and Austin Wells (3:54.26). Other Aggies racing included Ryan Teel (3:55.00), Colin Stoeber (3:56.27) and Aaron Murray (4:03.37).
The first heat of the women's 1,500 included a trio of A&M runners who placed 6-7-8-10 with Haley Deakins (4:44.35), Laura Craig (4:46.17), Karis Jochen (4:46.82) and Lauren Fontana (4:55.84).