The University of Redlands track & field teams hosted the Redlands Final Qualifier on Wednesday and Thursday as the last competition at home for the Bulldogs during the spring semester. The Maroon and Gray made the most of the opportunities on Ashel Cunningham Track by improving upon various career bests.
Among the highlights, senior Hannah Albrecht (Cottage Grove, OR) fired off a career-best score in the Heptathlon of 4,569 points for first place. With this total, she not only ranks second in school history but lands 13th in the country. She won six of the seven events while logging career-bests in the Shot Put (33' 7 ½"), 200 (25.36), and 800 Run (2:25.23).
In addition, first-year Ella Bachmeier (Rancho Capistrano, CA), sophomore Iman Musinovic (Evanston, IL), and sophomore Sabine Gratch (Evanston, IL) gained experience in the Heptathlon for the first time in their college careers.
Junior Alexis Wallace (Orangevale, CA) uncorked the fastest 5000 of her career by winning the race in 19:16.83. Sophomore Sheriane Greene (Grass Valley, CA) also improved upon her fastest mark with a third-place time of 20:09.45.
During Thursday's competition, senior Brenna Dolen (Redlands, CA) soared to a new career-best mark of 18' 1 ½" in the Long Jump to finish second and break into the Bulldogs' top-10 list. In addition, she won the Triple Jump with a leap of 37' 11 ¼".
Sophomore Grace Beaty (Upland, CA) registered the best Hammer Throw of her young career with a second-place distance of 108' 3", which exceeded her previous standard by nearly 10 feet.
Senior Andrea Lyon (Danville, CA) fired off a career-best time of 24.88 in the 200 to rank 19th in the country and finish as the highest college competitor at the meet. This also placed her third in Bulldog history.
Junior Isabella Glenn (Seattle, WA) ran the fastest 3000 Steeplechase of her career by completing the race in 11:29.91, which placed her third at the meet and lands her among the U of R's top-10 list.
For the men, senior Jason Waters (Troutdale, OR) scored a career-high 5,738 points in the Decathlon to finish first in the standings while winning nine of the events. He posted a career-best time of 11.41 in the 100 to go along with the fastest 110 Hurdle time of his career at 15.72. He also cleared a height of 5' 9 ¼" in the High Jump for the best of his college experience. In the throws, he uncorked a new personal standard in the Discus (97' 5") and the Javelin (129' 8"), improving each mark by at least seven feet.
Wednesday night's action included junior Riley Lathrop (Honolulu, HI) running a career-best time of 4:05.33 in the 1500.
The men's Discus saw first-year Tyler Davies (Lake Forest, CA) unleash a toss of 118' 1", which bettered his previous best mark of the season by nearly 15 feet. Davies also impressed in the Shot Put by hurling the element 42' 6 ¾" for the farthest of his young career.
On Thursday, first-year Michael Meheen (Carmel, CA) cleared a height of 14' ½" in the Pole Vault to also improve upon his previous standard.
Senior Tucker Cargile (Denver, CO) won the 800 while posting a season-best time of 1:54.05. Sophomore Christian Megas (Palmdale, CA) ran the fastest 200 of his career by clocking a 22.04 as the top Division III competitor in the event. Megas also joined forces with junior Jamir Jones (Fairfield, CA), senior Cooper Malerstein (Huntington Beach, CA), and senior Anthony Bonini (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) in the 4x100 Relay, which impressed with a time of 42.66 as the only quartet in the race.
Redlands now awaits Friday's official announcement of the qualifiers for the upcoming NCAA Championships, which will take place May 27-29 in Greensboro, NC.