Results

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Masum Real won the shot put for the eighth time this spring, headlining the Pacific Lutheran University track & field team's efforts at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational on Saturday at Western Washington University.

Real won the shot put by three feet, besting the international field that included several Division II competitors with a winning toss of 52 feet, 2 1/2 inches. The two-time Northwest Conference Champion in the shot put additionally was second in the discus and the top American competitor with a toss of 155' 1", placing behind Matthew Uliana of the University of British Columbia. Teammate Larson Fairbairn was sixth in the discus with a heave of 143' 1" and was seventh in the hammer throw (158'8") while Real was eighth (151' 4").

Darius Chaffin was sixth in the javelin (152' 5") while on the track, Erick Arcos clocked a time of four minutes, 13.19 seconds in the 1,500-meters and Kai Sorensen was eighth in his heat of the 800-meters in 2:01.75.

For the women, Sarah Paquet clocked a personal best in the 1,500-meters, crossing the tape in 4:46.43 while Alexia Sioda was 12th in the 800, making two trips around the oval in 2:27.16.

Virginia Arthur was fifth in the high jump, clearing a career-best 4' 8 3/4" with Tabitha Messineo finishing sixth after clearing the same bar. Georjinia Soliai (38' 0") and Messineo (36' 11 1/2") finished back-to-back in sixth and seventh, respectively in the shot put while Kristine Nguyen was seven in the pole vault (10' 8 1/4").

Arthur placed fourth in the discus with a personal best toss of 133' 9" with Peyton Santos (120' 2") landing eighth overall. Arthur additionally collected a career-best effort in the hammer throw.

Despite competing as just a partial squad, the Lute men finished eighth overall and the women placed 10th overall among the 22-team field. The PLU men scored 28 points, edging Division II Saint Martin's University by six points. PLU women netted 25 points, finishing 13 points shy of Division I University of Alaska-Anchorage for eighth place. The host Vikings won both team titles, scoring 214 points on the men's side and collecting 131 points in the women's competition.

The Lutes plan to compete across three meets in Oregon next weekend, including the Oregon Twilight in Eugene on Friday and the Portland Twilight and Linfield Open the following day.