The University of Redlands track & field team turned in an excellent performance at the Mountain T Invitational in Flagstaff, AZ at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome on Saturday. In a field of all NCAA Divisions, five athletes broke Indoor Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) records.
The men began their day with an impressive display from senior Maliq Champion (Beaumont, CA) in the 60 Yard Dash for an eighth-place time of 7.11. However, he snatched the top spot in the country in the 200 Yard Dash with a gold-medal time of 21.80, beating out 59 other opponents. With a solid start to his indoor career, first-year Christian Megas (Palmdale, CA) joined Champion in the 200 Yard Dash and stopped the clock in 22.47 to take ninth place.
In the distance races, junior Tucker Cargile (Denver, CO) went all out for a sixth-place time of 4:21.89 in the Mile. He followed that up with a solid time of 9:18.62 to claim 10th place in the 3,000 Run.
In the triple jump, first-year Owen Schmitz (Fremont, CA) stepped onto the scene with the top Division III finish with a distance of 12.24m.
Rounding out the men's performance, senior Tyler Lufkin (Yucaipa, CA) reset the SCIAC total in the Heptathlon with 4,207 points. He earned second in the 60 Yard Dash with a time of 7.33, sixth in the long jump with a distance of 5.93m, second in the High Jump with a height of 1.70m, third in the 60 Hurdles with a time of 9.12, fifth in the Pole Vault with a distance of 3.80m, and a first-place time of 2:51.40 in the 1,000 Run.
On the women's side, the Bulldogs dominated the Division III competition in the hurdle events, starting with a fifth-place finish in the 60 Hurdles from senior Jessica Fields (Las Vegas, NV) after setting the conference record at 8.71 in the prelims. Senior Chyenne Kimble (Big Bear Lake, CA) followed closely behind by stopping the clock in 8.85. In the finals, Fields claimed fifth with a time of 8.73.
Also resetting a SCIAC record, junior Brenna Dolen (Redlands, CA) shined with a distance of 11.63m in the triple jump.
The Maroon and Gray saw three athletes compete in the Pentathlon, led by Kimble in fifth with a SCIAC-record of 3,453 points. She kicked off her performance with an 8.86 time in the 60 Hurdles, followed by a fifth-place height of 1.61m in the High Jump. After throwing a distance of 10.38m to take fourth in the Shot Put, she claimed fifth in the Long Jump with a distance of 5.25m. She finished with a ninth-place time of 2:38.95 in the 800 Meter Run to round out her solid performance. Junior Hannah Albrecht (Cottage Grove, OR) also performed strongly with a sixth-place total of 3,217. Her strongest event was the 800 Meter Run, where she earned second place with a time of 2:27.48.
Half of Redlands track and field will travel to Boston, MA to compete at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational at 9 a.m. on Friday, February 14, while the other half takes the short trip West to compete at the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers Meet at 10 a.m.