SEATTLE – Freshman Anthony Johnson (Seattle, Wash./Garfield HS) became the first NAIA high jumper of the season to clear the seven-foot mark, jumping 7-0.25 (2.14m) to take second at the UW Indoor Preview, hosted by University of Washington, on Saturday afternoon at Dempsey Indoor Track in Seattle.
Johnson met the NAIA automatic qualifying mark of 2.05m on just his second jump of the afternoon after clearing 6-8. He wasn’t done, as he cleared 6-10 on his third chance before becoming the first athlete in Evergreen history to clear seven feet on his second opportunity. He barely missed at 7-2.25, clipping the bar with his heel on his second chance.
Johnson wasn’t the only Geoduck to have a good afternoon as Les Jones (Tacoma, Wash./Mt. Tahoma HS) won his heat of the 600m run in a time of 1:24.33, holding off Jacob Emerson of Coastal Track Club down the stretch. Jones finished 18th overall, just three-tenths of a second off his own school record.
Wes Jones (Tacoma, Wash./Mt. Tahoma HS) went up against American mile record holder Alan Webb in the second heat of the 800m run, leading the Olympian in the first lap before finishing seventh in the heat with a time of 1:58.55, which placed him 17th overall.
The Geoducks will be in action again on Tuesday night, taking part in the UP/PSU Tuesday Night Races at the Chiles Center on the campus of University of Portland.