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Los Angeles, CA - The Occidental track and field teams hosted the Oxy Distance Carnival and Spring Break Classic on Saturday. This meet allows the teams the opportunity to compete against and watch highly competitive athletes before beginning their spring break. Many student-athletes used this competitive challenge to push themselves to perform at higher levels and set new PRs.
In a heat of 54 speedy athletes, Karis Palomino placed herself in the top 20 of the women's 100m Dash with her new PR of 13.19. In the 800m, Eliza Hawley and Tia Akasaki outran their competition and set new PRs. Hawley finished in 7th out of 50 with 2:18.98 and Akasaki followed with 2:30.49. In the 1500m, Ciara Gillen (4:51.87), Nell O'Hara (5:05.24), Celia Fragale (5:09.77), Grace Optekar (5:15.48), and Maeve Mascarenhas (5:37.12) ran their hearts out to set new PRs. Gillen finished in the top 20. Jenna LeNay (18:00.66), Merrick Hoel (18:44.05), Jade Weggeman (20:13.79), Mei Mei Bayman (20:14.28), and Ruby Siehl (20:15.55) muschled out through the 5K, adding to the list of Tigers earning new PRs.
For field events, Emily Dolida finished in 7th in the triple jump (31'2.5"). In the shot put, Gabriella Knutsen took 3rd place with a toss at 34'11". Chelsea Groves improved by almost a foot, setting a new PR at 29'8.75" in the shot. Keena Brescia finished in 10th in discus with 96'5", two inches shy of her PR. Michelle Lagunas-Monroy finished in 8th in javelin with 89'04".
On the men's side, Nick Leon placed himself in fifth overal in the 400m Dash (50.47). Josh Abeyta and William Stark ran a speedy 1500m and each earned a new PR as a result. Abeyta crossed the finishe line in 4:21.88. Stark shaved 5 seconds off of his previous time and finished in 4:30.05. Renn Stearns continues to outperform himself and set a new PR in the 3000m steeplechase (9:39.95) which gave him a fourth place finish.
In terms of the field events, Duncan Ellis triple jumped all the way to a new PR and into the top 10 with 38'8.25". Darius Harvey landed in 8th place in the high jump with 5'3". In the hammer throw, Sam Berger didn't let a flooded ring stop him from setting a five foot PR (117'2").
On Friday, March 17, the speed and power athletes will be showcasing their talents at the Redlands Invite.
