Kelby Breaks 1988 Shot Put School Record

Saturday, April 30

Fresno, CA

All Day

University of Washington

Fresno State Invitational

April 30, 2022 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – The 34-year-old Washington women's shot put record was finally retired today at the Fresno State Invitational, as junior MaKayla Kelby took over the top spot in the Husky record books with a launch of 55-feet, 10.50-inches.

Already the school record-holder in the indoor shot put, Kelby finally tracked down the longer outdoor mark of 55-7, set back in 1988 by Jennifer Ponath, who would win the NCAA Championship that year. Kelby came in with an outdoor best of 54-5 ½, set just last week in Pullman, but her indoor record of 55-3 ½ was closer to what she'd need outdoors.

She opened with a great toss of 54-7 ¼ then had a couple 53-foot marks and a foul before putting it all together in round five and setting the mark. Kelby's sixth attempt was another great toss of 55-0 ¾. She'll move to 14th in the West this season.

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The 34-year-old record held by NCAA Champion Jennifer Ponath is dethroned!

?? ?????????????? ?????????? puts the new Husky shot record of 55-feet, 10.5-inches in the books today at Fresno State! ?????#GoHuskies @makayla_kelby pic.twitter.com/FACkx5nKpO
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 1, 2022

Kelby also had a lifetime-best in the discus today. Kelby and Beatrice Asomaning both improved their lifetime-best marks that already ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in UW history. Kelby had her second 185-foot throw of the season, going 185-4, while Asomaning had a PR for the second week in a row, going 183-6. They now rank 12th and 13th, respectively, in the West this year.

The sprinters continued to pick up speed, with multiple PRs and three new Top-10 marks. In the women's 100-meter dash, Aaliyah Wilson and Olivia Ribera both registered career-bests. Wilson ran 11.61 to dip under her old best by .01 seconds, while Ribera set a 100m PR for the second meet in a row, going 11.67. The pair now rank sixth and seventh all-time at UW.

In the men's 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Jonathan Birchman and freshman Matthew Wilkinson produced a 1-2 finish, both running personal bests. Birchman took three-quarters of a second off his PR, getting down to 51.02 seconds and jumping in to the No. 7 spot in school history. Wilkinson ran a 51.62 time which is now just off the top-10 list, at the No. 11 spot, but in the West Region this season, Birchman now ranks 15th and Wilkinson is up to 33rd.

Another first- and second-place sweep for the men came in the javelin, where Roan Allen took another victory throwing 217-2, and Zach Annanie got himself a new PR of 215-8. For the women, sophomore Kathleen Horn was fifth in the javelin at 149-11, and sophomore Natalie Holmer was seventh at 144-6.

Sam Van Peursem took a big win in the men's shot put, giving the Dawgs a shot put title sweep in Fresno. Van Peursem went 59-5 ¾ on his second attempt, moving him safely up into West Prelims qualifying position, at No. 30 currently.

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Aaliyah Wilson and Olivia Ribera rip off their fastest 100m dash times!

They now rank 6?&7? in UW history!#GoHuskies x #HuskyPRs pic.twitter.com/uEHL9Gg7cb
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) April 30, 2022

In the men's discus, Elijah Mason continued to round into postseason form as he extended his season-best once again, going 194-2 to win the event by over seven feet. Nolan Such threw 154-1.

The evening saw a group of Husky long and mid-distance runners get to make their marks, tuning up for the postseason. The night's biggest run came from Carley Thomas, who got the win in the 800-meters and ran the top time in the Pac-12 this season at 2:04.49. Sophie O'Sullivan crossed in 2:07.59, half a second off her season-best.

In the 1,500-meters invite, Anna Gibson led four Dawgs with her third sub-4:16 time this season. She ran 4:14.92 to take third. All-American Madison Heisterman had a season-best 4:17.04, and Julia David-Smith and Sophie Cantine came through together in 4:21.18 and 4:21.28. For the men, Ryan Renken clocked a 3:46.32.

In the women's 5k, Camila David-Smith took second and knocked seven seconds off her PR, running 16:25.00. Naomi Smith was a couple seconds back in 16:28.51, and Andrea Markezich finished in 16:41.88.

The Husky multi-eventers got more work in a few events apiece. Ida Eikeng took third overall in the 100m hurdles in 13.75 and high jumped 5-5 today, then threw 41-4 ¼ in the shot put. Ollie Thorner ran a 100m season-best of 10.97 seconds while Jamie Schlueter ran 11.18. Thorner then had a long jump best of 22-4 ½, and Schlueter went 22-1 ¾. Schlueter had a shot put PR of 42-9 and Thorner threw an even 42-feet. Thorner then had a new PR in the discus, going 141-1.

Also jumping today was senior Jelani Heath, with a mark of 19-1 ½, and freshman Tim Luebbert, who went 47-1 ½ in the triple and 21-10 ¾ in the long.

Delaney Ezeji-Okoye led the women's vaulters with a season-best clearance of 12-11 ½. Makenna Barton and Ashleigh Helms both made 12-5 ½. Current UW volunteer coach and NCAA record-holder Olivia Gruver had an impressive winning make of 15-5 ½.