SPOKANE, Wash. -- On Saturday, January 27th, the Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks continued their indoor season by attending the Inland Northwest Invitational held at The Podium in Spokane, Washington. The meet hosted 25 teams from across the divisions, including Washington State, Gonzaga, Idaho, Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, and CCAA competitor Cal State Los Angeles. The team returned home with new personal records and times that got them closer to competing in Kansas for the NCAA DII Indoor Championships. Head coach Sarah Ingram shared, "We counted over 30 personal records tallied from the day, so we're feeling really good about the teams performance." 

The men's team impressed in both the distance and sprints events, with a quarter of them making their indoor debut. Paul Domingue, Bryce Pearson, and Dominic Raffeto being first timers, all stepped up to the challenge.

Paul placed 5th in the 60m preliminary round with a time of 7.06. Also clocking an impressive time alongside his teammate, Cristian Megas made it to the final rounds of the 60m running a new lifetime best of 7.03 along the way. Megas kept the momentum throughout the day as he also led the men's side in the 200m earning himself 5th place with a time of 22.19.

Bryce Pearson proved his skills, competing in events that mimic what he will see again next week at his first indoor heptathlon. The men's indoor heptathlon consists of the 60m hurdles, long jump, high jump, pole vault, shot put, 400m, and 1,000m. For the Inland Invitational, Bryce competed well in long jump earning 5th place, while also earning 5th place in the 60m hurdles, and 6th place in the 400m. Bryce will hope to continue his success as he takes on more of his events.

Freshman, Joey Bowser, continues to improve his times and impress during his races. Bowser placed 5th in the 400 with a time of 50.20 and 7th place in the 200m with a 22.31. The distance duo of Julian Jensen and Dominic Rafetto placed 5th and 6th running times of 1:55:45 and 1:55:56.

The women's side was led by Cocome McKamey who is also on track to compete next weekend in her first indoor pentathlon, composed of the 60m hurdles, 800m, high jump, long jump, and shot put. McKamey hit indoor personal records for every event she competed in, placing 5th in the 200m with a time of 26.12, 8th in the 60m hurdles, and 1st place in long jump with a jump of 18 feet.

Isabel Perez-Zoghbi and Joy Hano just keep getting better, improving their national provisional marks in their respective events. Joy Hano ran an 8.75 in the 60m hurdles ranking her 20th in DII competition. Perez-Zoghbi cruised through her 400m race running a new personal record of 56.11, earning her a 2nd place finish and a national DII rank of 26. Joy and Isabel will have another chance to improve their times in Michigan in February at the Grand Valley State Meet.

Lumberjack pole vaulters, Erin Bechtold and newcomer Bubblegum Kernosh, swept the competition earning a 1st and 2nd place finish both jumping 10 '6. With the newest addition to the pole vaulting crew, the sky's the limit for these two ladies.

Next Up

Grace Kasberger, Cocome Mckamey, and Bryce Pearson are headed back to Spokane to compete at the Riverfront Multi's meet held at The Podium on February 1st and 2nd. This will be the multi's first times competing in an indoor pentathlon (women's) and heptathlon (men's).

The rest of the team will head to Michigan next to compete in the Grand Valley State University Big Meet in February.