(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The first day of the GSAC Track and Field Championships is in the books and Westmont men’s and women’s track has taken the lead in team scoring.
After the completion of seven events, the Westmont men have tallied 93 points while second place Vanguard has 59.5 points. Biola and The Master’s are battling for third place with the Eagles holding a one-point advantage 38-37.
In the women’s competition, Westmont has amassed 117.50 point, outpacing second-place Biola who has 76.50 points. William Jessup is in third with 26 points and The Master’s claims fourth with 17 points.
The men’s and women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase was the first of three running events contested on the opening day. Alec Franco of The Master’s won the men’s race in a time of 9:39.42 while Westmont’s Kyle Fredrickson finished second in a time of 9:46.12. Also earning team points for Westmont in the event was Cole Eberwein who placed fifth with a time of 10:01.87
Biola swept the first three places in the women’s steeplechase with Lydee Dawson claiming the championship in a time of 11:11.91. Stephanie Croy (11:17.14) claimed second while Hannah Hunsaker (11:30.61) took third. Dawson and Croy’s times earned them an automatic qualification for the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.
Westmont’s Terri Baker and Nadine Lara picked up points for Westmont in the women’s steeplechase with a fourth and sixth place finish respectively. Baker completed the course in 11:42.17 and Lara posted a time of 12:20.64.
In the women’s 4 x 800 meter relay, Westmont’s Anne Elise Brown, Maia Halverson, Hope Geisinger and Emily Parks claimed first place with a time of 9:42.07. Biola (9:44.61) finished second in the event while The Master’s placed third.
Biola and Westmont switched places in the men’s 4 x 800 meter relay with the Eagles finishing in a time of 8:00.25 for the win. Westmont’s Thomas Hamlin, Patrick Malberg, Jacob Grant and Michael Oldach posted a time of 8:25.51 in their second-place finish.
Westmont’s Emily Williams claimed the women’s 10,000 meter championship in a time of 38:31.41, beating out Emily Ransom (39:06.95) of Biola. Olivia Wood picked up five points for the Warriors with a fourth place finish in a time of 40:26.01. Kayla Darnbrough placed sixth in a time of 41:20.19.
The men’s 10,000 meter race went to Joshua Sherfey of The Master’s with a time of 32:51.28. Westmont’s Blake Fonda finished third in a time of 34:05.87, picking up six points. Westmont earned six more points in the event when David Peterson (36:37.26), Evan Covell (38:01.20) and Tyler Bradford (40:41.01) placed sixth, seventh and eighth.
Four field events were also competed today for both men and women. Westmont women had four athletes place in the pole vault including Chena Underhill who won the event with a vault of 3.50 meters (11-5.75). Underhill’s mark earned a provisional qualification for next month’s national championship.
Dana Bowers tied with Sarah Prystupa of Biola for second place with a mark of 3.35 meters (10-11.75). Tying for seventh place were Kristen Kahaian and Kaylee Hill of Westmont along with Madison Cole of The Master’s. The trio earned one point each with a vault of 2.75 meters (9-0.75).
Max Hudson of The Master’s won the men’s pole vault, clearing 4.24 meters (13-11). Westmont’s Brett Shagena placed third with a vault of 3.94 meters (12-11). Rhett Streelman tied with Karl Kleppe of Arizona Christian for fourth place with a vault of 3.64 meters (11-11.25). Travis Smelley tied for sixth place with Nathan Mirmontes of Vanguard, posting a mark of 3.34 meters (10-11.5). Jacob Trapp placed eighth at 3.04 meters (9-11.75).
Five Westmont women claimed scoring places in the long jump. Madison Herrera won the event by twice reaching 5.68 meters (18-7.75). Becky Collier placed second by jumping 5.55 meters (18-2.5) while M’Kya Williams claimed third with a mark of 5.25 meters (17-2.75). Finishing fifth was Alesha Bond who reached 5.20 meters on her sixth and final attempt (17-0.75). Brianna Stoppa tied Taylor Venegas of Biola for seventh place by jumping 5.04 meters (16-6.5).
Elijah Redding-Moment of Menlo claimed the men’s long jump championship with a mark of 6.98 meters (22-10.75), beating out Westmont’s Anthony Cota whose jump of 6.87 (22-6.5) earned second place. Pieter Top placed fourth in the event with a jump of 6.71 meters (22-0.75).
In the men’s javelin, Westmont claimed the top three places. Dan McCollum’s throw of 60.03 meters (196-11) on his second attempt won the event and served as an automatic qualification into the national championship.
Joseph Miller placed second with a throw of 56.92 meters (186-9) while Eric Wong notched third with a throw of 52.95 meters (173-8). Miller’s toss met the provisional qualification mark for nationals.
Like in the long jump, Westmont women claimed five scoring positions in the javelin. Jennah Richmond of William Jessup won the event with a mark of 38.43 meters (126-1). Westmont’s Maia Halvorson and Collier claimed second and third place with throws of 35.44 meters (116-3) and 35.22 meters (115-6) respectively.
Claiming fifth place in the women’s javelin was Michaela Girod with a throw of 30.68 meters (100-8). Julia Lee’s throw of 27.47 meters (90-1) earned her seventh place and two points for the Warriors.
Tyler Moulton of Vanguard won the men’s discus with a throw of 45.68 meters (149-10). Placing second was Westmont’s Jack Dickinson with a throw of 42.31 meters (138-9). Wong’s throw of 38.63 meters (126-9) was good enough for seventh place.
The women’s discus was won by Biola’s Ambern Hollinger with a throw of 37.62 meters (123-5). Hannah Smith of Westmont threw 31.92 meters (104-8) to claim third place and Kristen Germann notched sixth with a throw of 28.51 meters (93-6). Girod placed eighth with a throw of 28.18 meters (92-5).
The first day of the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon also took place today. Jackson Nemitz of Westmont is in first place after five of the 10 decathlon events with 3,269 points. Nemitz placed first in the high jump (1.90 meters) and the 400 meter dash (51.24), second in the long jump (5.99 meters) and third in the 100 meter dash (11.70) and the shot put (10.35 meters).
Nemitz leads Biola’s Nathanel Belden by 170 points. Shagena is in fifth place with 2,570 points, Streelman is in sixth with 2,320 points and Smelley is in seventh with 2,289 points.
Dorian Aberouette of Menlo leads the heptathlon after four of the seven events with 2,427 points. Westmont’s Stoppa is just 65 points back in second place with 2,362 points. Caitlin Smith is in fifth place with 1,848 points.
Stoppa claimed first place in both the shot put (9.88 meters) and the 200 meter dash (27.70 meters). She placed second in the 100 meter hurdles (16.26) and the high jump (1.39 meters).
The final day of the championship event gets started with the multi-events at 10:30 a.m. Field events begin at 11:00 a.m. and running events will start at 12:30 p.m.