TEMPE, Arizona – Hammer throwers were in action during the Friday portion of the 36th Sun Angel Classic and a career best mark of 207 feet, 4 inches placed Austin Cook second in the men's premiere event.
In setting his third career best this outdoor season, Cook is the No. 2 performer on the A&M all-time list and he equaled the No. 8 performance by school record holder Casey Strong, who set the Aggie mark of 211-1 (64.33) while placing ninth in the 2014 NCAA Championships.
Cook threw 207-4 (63.20) on his first throw of the competition, adding nearly four feet to his previous best of 203-6 (62.02) from the Texas Relays a couple of weeks ago. Cook opened the outdoor season with a PR of 201-0 (61.28) on his first visit to Tempe for the Baldy Castillo Invitational in March.
Manhattan's Love Litzell won the men's hammer with a 212-2 (64.66) effort while his teammate Blerim Pocesta placed third at 201-0 (61.26). After his PR throw in round one, the rest of Cook's series included a foul, 200-5 (61.09), 205-7 (62.66), foul and foul.
A pair of Aggies competed in the women's premiere hammer as Brea Garrett placed fifth and Alison Ondrusek finished seventh. Garrett produced a mark of 189-5 (57.74) while Ondrusek reached a distance of 187-10 (57.25). Post collegians finished 1-2-4 while Garrett was the second best collegian and Ondrusek the fourth best following Brooke Anderson of Northern Arizona, who threw 207-8 (63.30).
In the women's open hammer a career best of 167-5 (51.03) for Shelbi Vaughan placed eighth and moved her to No. 8 on the A&M all-time list. Carissa van Beek finished 15th with a toss of 155-7 (47.43).