In a final effort to earn NCAA qualifying marks, various members of the Redlands track & field team competed in the Occidental Invite on Saturday, boasting strong individual results. In the women’s competition, senior Natalie Calderon (Pasadena, CA) and freshman Kelsey Bermudez (La Verne, CA) set new school records in their respective events while bettering their own previous marks. On the men’s side, sophomore Jake Baechle (Aurora, OH), senior Chris Smith (Fremont, CA), and the 4x400m Relay of freshman Andy Green (Bellevue, WA), senior Chris Bogues (Boston, MA), Baechle, and senior Kevin Vollmer (Van Nuys, CA) posted Redlands all-time marks in the 800m Run, 10,000m Run and the relay, respectively.

After breaking her own school record just one week ago, Calderon accomplished the feat yet again in the Triple Jump, finishing second overall in a highly-competitive field with a leap of 39’ 6 ½”. In addition, she established a new Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) record. She also took second in the Long Jump with a distance of 19’ 4 ¾”, finishing as the top collegiate competitor in both events. Bermudez also improved upon her own school record, which she established just a few weeks ago at the SCIAC Championships. Officially the only woman in Redlands history to clear over 10 feet, she set the new mark at a height of 10’ 2 ½” to finish 18th at the meet. In addition, freshman Mackenzie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) came in eighth in the High Jump at 5’ 2 ½”, while sophomore Onesa Bowman (Pomona, CA) took second in her heat of the 800m Run with a time of 2:19.21.

Baechle continued his strong season by posting a career-best 1:51.76 in the 800m Run to finish fourth in his heat. Smith became part of an elite group of just three Bulldogs to ever reach the 31-minute plateau in the 10,000m Run with his second-place time of 31:31.62. The speedy relay of Baechle, Bogues, Green, and Vollmer continued to improve upon their NCAA Provisional time with time of 3:15.69 to take second at the meet. In addition, graduate student Fritz Nugent (Tinley Park, IL) finished fifth in the Long Jump with a distance of 23’ 0”, while junior Brad Morrow (Williams, CA) posted a top-three distance of 181’ 11” in the Javelin.

The Bulldogs who have earned NCAA Provisional qualifying marks now await the announcement from the NCAA regarding the championships on May 22-24 at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh.