Records fell in abundance at the Westmont Track on Saturday as the Warriors hosted the Westmont Collegiate Classic. Eight stadium records and two team records were rewritten amongst the 41 events contested.
Amanda Chevalier reclaimed a school record by finishing third in the women’s 200 meters with a time of 24.67. The event was won by Brianne Theisen, an Olympian from Canada, who set a stadium record with a time of 24.13. Theisen was the previous stadium record holder, having established a time of 24.21 at the Sam Adams Classic on April 3, 2012.
Lindsey Schwartz of the Women’s Athletic Performance Foundation, which trains at Westmont, finished second in a time of 24.38.
Chevalier’s time was 0.13 seconds faster than fellow teammate Elysia Hodges, who claimed the record from Chevalier last year. Chevalier’s mark earned her an automatic qualification in the event in the NAIA Outdoor National Championships.
Hodges, a former San Marcos High star, broke her own stadium record in the women’s 400 meter hurdles, completing the course in 59.94. Her performance mark the first time the event has been run in under one minute on the Westmont Track. Hodge’s previous best at Westmont was 61.37. However, Hodges is also the school record holder at 59.65, having accomplished that time at last year’s Pomona-Pitzer Invitational.
Hodges’ time at this year’s Collegiate Classic beat the outdoor nationals’ automatic qualification standard by more than four seconds. Laurel Stormans finished third in the event with a provisional qualification time of 64.46.
Hodges, Stormans and Chevalier teamed up with Lorien Patmore to establish a new school record in the women’s 4 x 100 meters. The Warriors finished second with a time of 48.61, which beat the old record established last year by 0.22 seconds.
Theisen took down another stadium record in the women’s 100 meter hurdles; winning the race in a time of 13.41. Again, it was her own record that she broke; this one by 0.07 seconds.
Running in the men’s 110 meter hurdles was Damian Warner, the two-time Canadian national champion in the decathlon who finished fifth at the 2012 Summer Games. Warner posted a time of 14.15 in winning the event, blowing away the old stadium record by 0.36 seconds. Finishing second in the event was Westmont’s Bradford Ortlund with a time of 16.17.
Warner also established a new stadium record in the men’s 200 meters; winning the race in a time of 21.09. The mark was 0.40 seconds faster than the previous mark established two years ago. Westmont’s Quincy Braxton took second in a time of 22.81.
Clearing a stadium record height in the women’s pole vault was Lauren Kuntz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kuntz soared 3.95 meters (12-11.5). Kuntz beat out three previous record holders at 3.70 meters, including herself.
Both the men’s and women’s 5,000 meter race walk records were re-established on Saturday as well with both existing record holders bettering their own marks. In the women’s race, Julia Townsend of Concordia posted a time of 29:34.47. Adrian Zamudio, an unattached athlete, claimed the men’s record with a time of 27:11.84.
In addition to her automatic outdoor nationals’ qualifying time in the 200 meter race, Chevalier earned a provisional qualifying time of 12.18 while finishing first in the women’s 100 meters. Theresa Nealon posted a provisional qualification time when she won the women’s 800 meters in a time of 2:14.72.
In the men’s 1500 meter race, former San Marcos star Evan Bradford recorded an outdoor nationals’ automatic qualification mark of 3:53.06 with a second place finish. In field events, Ben Kingsley put the shot 15.64 meters (51-3.75) as he also earned an automatic qualification for outdoor nationals.
The NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships will be held May 23-26 in Marion, Indiana.
In the men’s team competition, Westmont finished first with 128 points. MIT took second with 77.50 while La Verne claimed third with 70 and Fresno Pacific fourth with 65.50. George Fox posted 49 points to finish fifth.
La Verne took first in the women’s competition, edging out second-place Westmont 74.5 to 73. MIT claimed third place with 60.50 points while the University of Wisconsin, represented by just eight athletes, claimed fourth place with 46 points. Fresno Pacific was fifth with 44 points and George Fox sixth with 36.
Next week, Westmont will host the Sam Adams Decathlon/Heptathlon which will include several elite athletes. Theisen and Warner will return and be joined by Olympic decathlon gold medalist Ashton Eaton. Gray Horn, who placed third at the US Championships last year, will also participate. Sharon Day, who won the Sam Adams Heptathlon last year and went on to represent the United States at the Olympics, will return this year to defend your title. Also joining the competition will be Canadian heptathlete Jen Cotton.
The public is welcome to attend the two day event which begins on Friday, April 5 at noon.
