Despite coming into the 2009 season with a variety of unknown factors, second-year Head Coach Mike Schmidt built upon his 2008 success with the University of Redlands track & field program, guiding numerous student-athletes to All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) awards and coaching sophomore Mackenzie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) to an All-America finish at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

After graduating two NCAA Individual Champions, Schmidt faced the task of finding viable replacements for the departed superstar student-athletes. He gained multiple awe-inspiring performances from a number of student-athletes during the 2009 campaign, which culminated in seven NCAA provisional qualifying marks, and successfully put the ball in motion to impact the national stage once again.

The Bulldogs kicked off their season on Feb. 13 when they traveled to the Azusa Pacific Indoor Qualifier. On the women’s side, junior Onesa Bowman (Pomona, CA) and sophomore Kelsey Bermudez (La Verne, CA) supplied top-five performances as Bowman took fifth in the 60m Dash (8.51) while Bermudez cleared a fourth-place height of 10’ in the Pole Vault. Freshman Austin Messick (Mission Viejo, CA) foreshadowed the success he experienced throughout the rest of his rookie season, bursting onto the collegiate track scene by taking second in the 60m Dash with a time of 7.12.

Following a two-week break, the teams returned to action when they competed at the Rossi Relays. Bowman shined in her 100m season debut, outperforming all NCAA Division III runners present with a 10th-place time of 12.86. Bermudez reset her program record in the Pole Vault (10’ 5 ½”) while sophomore Kortney Watring (Riverside, CA) took third in the Triple Jump with a mark of 36’ 5 ¾”. Messick dazzled on the track, finishing seventh in the 100m Dash (11.38). Junior Richard Valenti (Palm Desert, CA) unleashed runner-up marks in both the Shot Put (48’ 11”) and the Hammer Throw (160’ 1”) while sophomore Andy Green (Seattle, WA) and senior Brad Morrow (Williams, CA) placed among the top 10 in each of their individual events.

Redlands hosted its first track & field event of the year when it entertained a seven-team field at the SCIAC Invitational on March 7. Sophomore Katie Ostrinski (Riverside, CA) captured first in the 2,000m Steeplechase, clocking a 7:46.4, while Bowman also garnered an individual event triumph with a gold standard in the 100m Dash (12.8). While none of the men managed an event win, several Bulldogs offered memorable performances. Valenti flirted with the NCAA provisional mark in the Hammer Throw with his toss of 165’ 9” before gaining another second-place finish in the Shot Put (48’ 4 ¼”). Sophomore Ross Blanchard (Novato, CA) dipped under the NCAA provisional standard when he tied for second in the 110m Hurdles (14.9), but due to the manual timing used in the event, his time was declared as unofficial. Finally, on the track, junior Jake Baechle (Aurora, OH) flexed his middle-distance ability and crossed the finish line at 4:08.7 in the 1500m Run for second place.

Smith and Valenti both highlighted the Bulldogs’ performances during the SCIAC Top-4 Meet in Eagle Rock as both teams came in fourth place. Smith’s NCAA provisional-qualifying mark of 139’ 4 ½” in the Javelin Throw won by 19 feet and bettered her previous lifetime best at Redlands by a foot. In the Discus Throw, Valenti uncorked a 157’ 5” attempt and also won in NCAA provisional-qualifying fashion. Running in just one event, the 200m Dash, Bowman made her presence known once again, stopping the clock at 26.33 for first place. The men’s sprinting wunderkind, Messick, inched out Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges’ Matt Ezer by .01 seconds to win the 100m Dash in 22.38.

The action returned to Ted Runner Stadium on March 20 as both programs hosted Fresno Pacific University, the University of La Verne, San Bernardino Valley College and Chaffey College at the Redlands Invitational. Bowman dominated the 100m Dash once again, this time earning the victory with a 12.67 standard. The female Bulldog distance corps came out in full force as sophomore Heather Mayer (Spring Valley, CA) and junior Kelly Luck (Boulder, CO) won the 1,500m Run (5:13.24) and the 10,000m Run (41:06.59), respectively. Valenti stretched the tape in each of his three throwing events as he provided first-place outings in the Hammer Throw (161’) and the Discus Throw (154’ 3”) while nabbing second place in the Shot Put (45’ 5 ¾”). On the track, Blanchard posted a first-place time of 14.99 in the 110m Hurdles.

Valenti, Smith and Morrow all competed at the USC Trojan Invite the next day and then the Bulldogs traveled to Claremont for the highly-competitive Pomona-Pitzer Invite on April 4. The highlight of the meet for the Maroon and Gray came from Baechle as he won the 800m Run in 1:51.28. His performance, which served as a solid NCAA provisional qualifying standard, ranked third all-time in program history. Smith excelled on the women’s side, recording a second-place mark of 134’ 5” in the Javelin Throw.

Just one week later, the two programs squared off against SCIAC competition once again, this time at the SCIAC Multi-Duals. Bowman’s event wins in the 100m Dash (12.60) and the 200m Dash (25.59), Smith’s first-place heave in the Javelin Throw (131’ 11 ½”) and Watring’s NCAA provisional-qualifying leap in the Triple Jump (37’ 8 ¾”) bolstered the women’s team and guided the Bulldogs to a 3-4 record. Messick used his fleet feet to capture first in the 100m Dash (10.91), and he later churned out a blazing-fast 22.10 time in the 200m Dash for second place. In the 400m Dash, Green won by just less than a second, clocking in at 48.88. Due to solid all-around performances on the men’s side, the Maroon and Gray collected a 6-1 record and finished second at the meet.

The success that both teams had enjoyed all season carried over to the SCIAC Championships as the two programs combined for 18 All-Conference honorees. As a result of claiming conference titles in the 100m Dash (12.56) and the 200m Dash (25.35) as well as anchoring the second-place Redlands 4x400m Relay with a sub-56-second split, Bowman received SCIAC Female Athlete of the Year honors. Smith dominated the field in the Javelin Throw (135’ 6”) while Watring supplied the second-best leap in the Triple Jump (36’ 7 ½”). For the men, Baechle used a superior back end to ensure his second title in as many years in the 800m Run (1:56.11). Messick’s mastery of the sprint events carried over to the conference championship meet as he triumphed in the 100m Dash (10.88) and garnered a second-place finish in the 200m Dash (22.32). Green showed his versatility, earning All-SCIAC nods in the 400m Run (48.48, first), Triple Jump (44 9 ½”, fourth) and Long Jump (22’ 8 ½”, second). The men wound up in second place out of the eight conference teams while the women ended up in sixth, just four-and-a-half points out of fourth place.

Those looking toward the NCAA Championships utilized two additional opportunities to improve upon their season-best times. Smith and Baechle finished among the top three at the Asics/Steve Scott Invitational with Smith capturing second in the Javelin Throw (136’ 5”) and Baechle covering the 800m Run in 1:51.78 for third place. After her breathtaking performance anchoring the 4x400m Relay at the SCIAC Championships, Bowman tried her hand at the 400m Run. She fell just short of the NCAA provisional qualifying mark but still managed to cross the finish line in the fourth-fastest standard ever clocked by a Bulldog runner (57.77). At the Occidental Invitational, Bermudez once again assaulted the program’s record book with a height of 11’ 1 ¾” in the Pole Vault.

While seven Redlands track & field athletes possessed NCAA provisional qualifying standards, Baechle and Smith were the lone Bulldogs invited to the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which Marietta College (OH) hosted from May 21-23. On day one, Smith improved upon her sixth-place performance in 2008 with an All-America-worthy third-place mark in the Javelin Throw. She launched a personal-best attempt of 140’ 7” in the final flight, earning six points toward the women’s team’s total. Despite running a remarkable 1:51.38 in the preliminary heats of the 800m Run, Baechle narrowly missed the cutoff for the day three finals, winding up ninth overall.

The Redlands programs graduate only seven competitors, leading way to a potentially groundbreaking 2010 campaign. With a myriad of student-athletes knocking on the door of qualifying for the NCAA Championship meet and with others steadily tapping into their potential, the track & field teams look to etch another exciting chapter in the annals of Bulldog Athletics next year.