Various members of the University of Redlands track & field teams competed in the 2017 Occidental Invitational in Eagle Rock on Saturday.  With quality marks, the Bulldogs gained eight top-15 finishes in the high-caliber meet for a fine outing.

For the women, junior Reyna Ta'amu (Lakewood, CA) posted a career-best mark in the Shot Put at 44' 1 ½" for third place overall.  Junior Vanessa Blanchard (Palmdale, CA) cleared a height of 5' 3" in the High Jump to take fourth place, while junior Mandy Widen (Vail, AZ) impressed with her eighth-place showing in the Pole Vault at 11' 9 ¾". 

In addition, senior Jessika Snincsak (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) uncorked a career-best time of 18:20.14 in the 5000 Meters, while junior Kaylee Jorgensen (Claremont, CA) completed the 800 in 2:17.61, which was just .56 off of her fastest mark.

On the men's side, the 4x100 Relay of sophomore Luke Bohlinger (Mercer Island, WA), sophomore Nick Burchett (Gold River, CA), freshman Maliq Champion (Beaumont, CA), and senior Myles Speegle (Castro Valley, CA) fired off a season-best time of 41.54 to finish fourth at the meet.  This time places the quartet at 15th in the country.

In addition, junior Afari La-Anyane (Morgan Hill, CA) ran a 15.50 in the 110 Hurdles to take 13th and Burchett crossed the finish line of the 400 Hurdles with a time of 55.14.

In the field events, junior Wyatt Pannabecker (Choteau, MT) posted a seventh-place mark of 43' 10" in the Triple Jump, as freshman Mykel Campos (Dinuba, CA) took 11th with a leap of 20' 9" in the Long Jump. Finally, Champion cleared a height of 6' 2 ¾" in the High Jump for another top-10 showing at the competition.

Redlands heads to the Westmont All-On-The-Line Open on Saturday, May 13, at 11 a.m. in Montecito.