SAN DIEGO — The culmination of the 2026 season proved to be memorable for the Westmont track and field teams.

Competing at the PacWest Championships hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Warrior athletes posted six All-PacWest performances and several other impressive results.

The Westmont men scored 65 points to finish fifth overall, while the women ended in seventh place with 22 points.

“The team responded well to PacWest competition,” said head coach Russell Smelley. “There was an array of season-best performances, some of which did not appear in the scoring.”

Gabe LaBorin completed 10 events to collect his All-PacWest award. LaBorin produced a huge personal best of 6,416 points to place third in the decathlon. He ended both days of the competition with event wins, taking the 400 meters in 49.34 and closing out the decathlon with an impressive 1500-meter time of 4:14.58. For comparison, that 1500 time would have been the top performance in the decathlon at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Teammate Roary Erskine also had a strong performance in the decathlon, placing sixth in a substantial personal record of 6,067 points.

The open 1500-meter race was another highlight for Westmont. Freshmen Hunter Skoglund (3:51.87) and Kaeden Anderson (3:54.45) cut three seconds off their previous best times to finish third and fifth, respectively. Skoglund’s effort earned All-PacWest honors. Tyler Allan (3:56.87) added a seventh-place finish.

Joshua Lin joined the list of all-conference honorees by placing third in the 400 meters. He ran a time of 48.09 in the finals after setting a personal record of 48.01 in the prelims. He also anchored the 4 x 400 relay to a fourth-place finish in 3:18.59. Other members of the relay were Justin Hess, Luke Hein, and Danny Allan.

John Sakaguchi earned the final All-PacWest award for the men. He finished third in the long jump with a mark of 6.99 meters (22-11.75). He also ran a season best in the 100 meters, just missing the finals with a time of 10.78.

Janelle Wanliss headlined the efforts for the women’s team. The freshman ran 1:01.61 in the 400 hurdles to end in third and take home all-conference honors. Her time ranks third in Westmont history and meets the NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Wanliss also ran a leg on the sixth-place 4 x 100 relay (47.81) and the seventh-place 4 x 400 relay (3:59.03).

Macy Billinger, another freshman, claimed All-PacWest recognition by finishing third in the pole vault. She cleared 3.50 meters (11-5.75).

Coach Russ Smelley also pointed out the contributions of senior Charlotte Williams. In her individual event, the 400 meters, Williams produced her career-best performance of 58.02 to finish ninth. She also ran the 4×100 and 4×400 relays.

“Charlotte continued her calm and reassuring leadership that I think influenced her teammates to stretch toward their best performances,” commented Smelley.

Other individuals who scored points for the men include Luke Hein, eighth in the 800 (1:56.37 finals / 1:54.37 prelims); Crusoe Buzzard, sixth in the 400 hurdles (54.55); Lucas Satterlee, seventh in the 3000 steeplechase (10:04.63); William Covington, seventh in the 5,000 meters (15:20.42); Lucas Dedora, fifth in the javelin (55.60m / 182-5); David Oyebade, fifth in the discus (48.35m / 158-7), and eighth in the hammer (48.28m / 158-4); Joel Nakazawa, seventh in the hammer (48.74m / 159-11); Davian Kennedy, eighth in the high jump (1.80m / 5-10.75); Easton Rose, eighth in the pole vault (4.05m / 13-3.5); and Makai Bruce, eighth in the triple jump (12.29m / 40-4).

The men’s 4×100 relay, made up of Rose, Che Siordia, Joshua Denu, and Evan O’Brien, added a fourth-place finish.

For the women, Claire Van Horn improved her all-time best, finishing fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:15.78. She also ran on the 4×400 relay. Several other athletes produced notable performances that just missed scoring points. Ava Shaffer (12.41) and Grace Soberanis (12.58) ran personal bests in the 100 meters, and were members of the 4×100 relay. Anna Hoke finished the prelims of the 400 hurdles in 1:05.48, which ranks her among Westmont’s top 10 in the record books. She added a leg on the 4×400 relay. Noella Breytenbach scored 3,760 points in the heptathlon, which set a career-best mark.