The Westmont Track was filled with the sounds of a meet between UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine and Westmont on Saturday afternoon. For Westmont athletes it was the final day of qualifying for the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championship. Several Warriors earned their way into the championship event which will be held in Geneva, Ohio March 6-8.
In field events, Becky Collier, who had previously earned an automatic entry into the high jump event at indoor nationals with a jump of 1.70 meters, added another five centimeters to her season best, clearing 1.75 meters (5-8.75).
Kristan Holding exceeded the provisional qualification standard in the long jump with a mark of 5.37 meters (17-7.5), bettering her previous season best of 5.11 meters.
Shane Rowan exceeded the provisional qualification mark in the men’s triple jump, posting a distance of 14.06 meters. However, he previously earned an automatic qualification with a jump of 14.30 meters.
In racing events, Taryn Phipps finished first in the women’s 200 meters with a time of 25.47, good enough for a provisional qualification. In the women’s mile, Jessica Meyers turned her previous provisional time of 5:11.53 into an automatic qualification of 5:08.99.
Kelly Collins had a strong race in the women’s 3,000 meters, taking first place in a time of 10:19.62, more than eight seconds faster than the automatic qualifying time.
The Westmont women’s 4 x 400 meter team of Kylie Moore, Kaylin Koopmans, Lorien Patmore and Collier also posted a provisional qualification time of 4:02.87 while finishing in second place.
In the men’s races, Tyler Moore won the 400 meters with an automatic qualification time of 48.61 meters and Nathan Evan claimed a provisional qualification in the 800 meters with a second place finish in 1:56.22.
Evan Bradford placed third in the mile in a time of 4:16.03, nearly two minutes faster than the automatic qualification mark.
As is traditional, the running events concluded with the men’s 4 x 400 meter race. The Westmont team of Bryan Avendano, John Nealon, Christian Hatchett and Tyler Moore outpaced UC Santa Barbara to finish first in a time of 3:17.13, which is 1.97 seconds ahead of the automatic qualification mark.
In other events not competed at indoor nationals, Elysia Hodges won the women’s 100 meters with a time of 12.06, just 0.01 off of the school record. She also won the 400 meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in a time of 60.72. Kyle Kemper won the men’s javelin with a throw of 53.39 meters (175-2).
