TACOMA, Wash.— George Sonko dominated the throwing events, winning both the shot put and discus, part of a big team effort for the Pacific Lutheran University men's track & field team on Saturday at the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational hosted by crosstown rival University of Puget Sound.
 
PLU dominated the shot put, stealing the top three spots and landing four in the top six. George Sonko led the way with a personal best heave of 43 feet 0 ½ inches with Micah Ragaza-Bourassa (41' 1 ½") and Griffin Montana (40' 2 ¼") netting second and third, respectively. Gavin Hawley was sixth with a toss of 37' 6 ¾". 
 
Sonko would win the discus as well, uncorking a winning throw of 127' 0" with Ragaza-Bourassa sixth overall (106' 0"). 
 
After two weeks of finishing runner-up, Dylan Jones finally got a chance to be on top, winning the pole vault after matching a personal best, vaulting 14' 5 ¼" to secure the victory. Teammate Blake Leahy was third overall, clearing 12' 11 ½". 
 
Connor Meade was second in the javelin with a throw of 174' 4" with Carson Olmstead (173' 10") and Darius Chaffin (159' 9") finishing third and fifth, respectively. 
 
Cooper Claxton was second overall in the triple jump with a leap of 40' 8 ¼" while Connor Meade was third in the long jump with a mark of 19' 9". Kevin Hanis was fourth in the high jump, clearing 5' 10 ½". 
 
Keola Sanchez was runner-up in the 100-meters, blazing down the homestretch in 10.94 seconds with Kellen Meade a split second back in third in 11.04. Sanchez would later finish third in the 200-meters (22.47) with Meade placing sixth (22.65). 
 
Grady Lemma was second overall in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.90 with Darius Chaffin finishing third overall. 
 
Sanchez, Meade, Lemma, and Aiden Yost finished second in the 4x100-meter relay, making one trip around the track in 42.71. The Lutes closed the meet with a fifth place showing in the 4x400-meter relay.
 
In the distance events, Ryan Stracke was third in the 5,000-meters in a season-best time of 15:21.25 while Stefans Lusis was sixth in the 1,500-meters, circling the oval in 4:11.06.
 
"It was a smaller meet but thought it was a solid day all around for us," said Head Coach Trey Henderson.
 
"Right now is about continuing to get conference qualifying marks and we did that today. We're closing in on the final stretch before conference so it's about building confidence and experience."
 
The Lutes finished runner-up in the team standings, scoring 158.5 points and finishing just 1.5 points shy of host University of Puget Sound. PLU finished ahead of Division II Saint Martin's University (sixth with 28 points) and Northwest Conference rival Whitman College (11th with 10 points).
 
Pacific Lutheran are back in action next Saturday, trekking to Forest Grove, Oregon for the Pacific Open.