Westmont College will be well-represented at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships
beginning Thursday at Ralph Korte Stadium in Edwardsville, Ill. Eight men and six women will be competing for the Warriors.
, sophomore Kasey Kearin will compete in the long jump Thursday and the triple jump Friday. Kearin’s mark of 5.80 meters (19 feet 0.5 inch) in the long jump is third best among the event’s entrants, which gives her a good chance at earning All-American honors — recognition given to the top six finishers in each event. Her season best in the triple jump is 11.49 meters (37 feet 8.5 inches).
Senior Lorin Milotta was a provisional qualifier for the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.91 seconds, just 0.01 seconds off the automatic qualifying time. Prelims for the event are Thursday, with the semifinals and finals Friday.
Freshman Chrissa Trudelle qualified to compete in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 18:17.59, which she posted at the Occidental Invitational on May 10. Both the semifinals and finals are Friday.
Competing in the 3,000-meter race walk will be Megan Wong, who earned All-American honors in the same event at the
NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships
in March. Wong’s qualifying time of 16:40.74 puts her dead center in the field of 15 athletes who will participate in the event.
Seniors Lisa Griego and Lindsey Cooper will try to make it three in a row for Westmont in the women’s marathon. In 2006, Jessica Goulder won the event for the Warriors and Westmont’s Anna Stumbo claimed the championship in 2007. Griego and Cooper will run the 26-mile, 385-foot course Saturday in a field of 32 competitors. Griego finished 11th in last year’s marathon with a time of 3:13:43.
, senior Robbie Cherry will also compete in the marathon. Cherry will face a field of 61 competitors among whom he had the fifth fastest qualifying time in the half-marathon of 1:10:59.24.
Also competing for the men is junior Daniel Lew in the 5,000-meter race walk Thursday. Lew, who will face a field of 19, posted a time of 28:08.25 at Mount SAC to qualify for the event.
Junior Andrew Dixon and senior Aaron Megazzi will compete in the 10,000-meter and 5,000-meter races, respectively. Dixon, who posted a time of 31:46.57 at the
Golden State Athletic Conference
Championships to qualify as part of the field of 28, will run in the finals Thursday. Megazzi, who earned All-American honors in the 5,000 meters in 2005 and 2007, will complete Friday and Saturday. His qualifying time of 14:45.14 is sixth fastest among the 25 entrants.
Senior Ryan Kraft, along with freshmen Jacob Goodin, Nathan Kemp and Eric Williams, will represent the Warriors in the men’s 4 X 800 relay. Prelims are Thursday with the finals Friday. The team qualified for the competition by posting a time of 7:51.73 at the GSAC Championships.