On April 9 California Lutheran University’s men’s and women’s track and field team traveled to the 30th Annual Pomona-Pitzer Invitational to compete in the unfavorable weather conditions.
The invitational included many different schools, unattached athletes and even athletes from different countries.
With the on and off rain the Cal Lutheran track and field team was still able to perform at high levels of competition. However, the rain was not an issue for all members of the track and field team.
“There are some people on our team that love running in the rain,” Carlie Burow, competitor in the 100 Hurdles, High jump and the 400 Hurdles said.
The Kingsmen throwers seemed to not be bothered by the inclement weather.
Senior Michael Bassette had top marks in the Hammer Throw with a distance of 44.98 meters. He also had a Shot Put distance of 15.97m. Sophomore Ryan Fisher led Cal Lutheran with a distance of 44.25m in the Discus.
In the Javelin Throw, senior Heath Bain led the Kingsmen with a throw of 43.63m. That would not be the last of Bain’s events as he continued to perform in the 400m with the top time of 52.18 seconds.
“I was most impressed with my 400m race as I dropped my time from a 53 to 52.12,” Bain said. “I felt more prepared for my 400m race and it was a different feel running the open 400m race instead of being on a relay team.
On the track, senior Ben Chavez had the best time for the Kingsmen with a time of 11.43 in the 100m and 23.36 in the 200m. Shortly after Chavez in the 200m would be Christopher Aguilar with a time of 23.44.
Other Kingsmen had strong showings such as senior Tyler Erickson in the 100m Hurdle with a time of 15.83 and Ed Garrett in the 400m with a time of 1:01.58.
Senior Ryan Perez led in the 800m with a time of 2:02.13. Senior Nick Privitelli and sophomore Teerth Patel recorded a 4:05.09 and 4:11.89, respectively in the 1500m.
For the Regals, Amanda Hamilton placed second in the Triple Jump with a jump of 11.66m.
However that was not the end for Hamilton as she continued to compete on the track with the top time for the Regals in the 100m with a time of 12.57, the 200m with a time of 26.20 and the 4×100 relay team coming in at 49.02 to get the seventh place finish with senior Bianca Deardorf, sophomore Anna Schlosser and sophomore Teigan Schentrup.
Burrow had success in her events as well, leading the Regals in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 17.10, 400m Hurdles with a time of 1:06.54 and high jump with a jump of 1.55m. Sophomore Keely Irvine would finish shortly after Burow with a time of 17.62 in the 100m Hurdles.
Amanda Oyao made high reaches in Pole Vaulting with a 2.50m vault.
Other top performances of the day included Katie Young who competed in the 1500m with a time of 5:18.82 and Kylie Rodriguez in the 800m with a time of 2:45.47. Kelsey Rouse led the Regals in the Long Jump with a jump of 5.16m.
Carson Nicodemus led in the Hammer Throw with a toss of 36.17m, while Allie Hadley came in fourth place in the Javelin with a throw of 43.78m. Alexa Barnes had the top distance in Shot Put and Discus for the Regals with a throw of 97.1m and 37.12.
“All of our athletes pulled great times and distances, which is awesome because this is a time in season when our bodies are broken down and tired,” Nicodemus said.
Even though the Cal Lutheran track team had great times and distances, they are even more excited for their next meet.
“We’re excited for next week’s SCIAC No. 3 meet in the sunshine,” Burrow said.
The next meet will be a SCIAC Multi-Dual meet for conference at La Verne on April 16.
Alec Sprague
Staff Writer
Published April 13th, 2016