The University of Redlands track & field teams pieced together a season unlike any in the history of the program, highlighted by both groups winning its respective conference title. With the women earning their third crown in four years and the men dethroning long-time champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, the Bulldogs will soon not forget the experiences of the 2011 campaign. In addition to these historical achievements, Redlands reset various program standards and sent a record number of student-athletes to the NCAA Championships for an incredible season finale.
The Maroon and Gray began 2011 at the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers Meet and the 15th Annual Rossi Relays in back-to-back weekends, earning solid results in the teams' first outings. The Bulldogs gained seven first-place showings as well as 32 top-five performances between these two events.
Redlands jumped right into Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action by defeating both Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Caltech in the first multi-dual meet of the season. Both programs earned the victories by sizeable margins, revealing their overall diversity and depth. As a team, Redlands collected 17 first-place finishes while recording 1-2-3 sweeps in the women's 200m Dash and Long Jump as well as the men's 400m Hurdles and Shot Put.
Several UR student-athletes gained quality experiences at the CSU Northridge Invite, highlighted by senior javelin thrower and All-American Mackenzie Smith's (Hoquiam, WA) NCAA provisional mark of 135' 2". The throw was Smith's best of the young season and placed her second overall.
Six days later, the Bulldogs hosted the highly-anticipated Redlands Invite on March 18. The Maroon and Gray welcomed numerous competitors from Biola University, Fresno Pacific University, Nippon Sport Science University (JAPAN), the University of Puget Sound (WA) and conference foe University of La Verne. The Bulldogs provided admirable results throughout the meet, notching 12 gold-medal performances on the day. Senior Ross Blanchard (Novato, CA) tallied his fifth and sixth individual victories of the 2011 season, taking home the top prize in the 100m Dash (10.89) and the 110m Hurdles (14.79).
Before returning to the friendly confines of Ashel Cunningham Track, numerous Bulldogs competed at the Cal/Nevada Championships, hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. While taking on various schools from Southern California, including NCAA Division I, II and III opponents, Redlands' javelin throwers took center stage with Smith recording another NCAA provisional mark and the men placing three among the top-15.
Redlands hosted its second meet of the year when the SCIAC No. 2 Dual Meet took place inside Ted Runner Stadium. The Bulldogs continued their winning ways by defeating both CMS and La Verne in epic battle between a talented trio of teams. The Bulldog men defeated the Stags by a 94-69 margin and gained a solid 96-67 performance over the Leopards. UR's women posted an exciting three-point victory over CMS, 83-80, while cruising to a 99-63 advantage against the Leopards. The highlight of the day came in the very first race as the men's 4x100m Relay of junior Richard Nakaoka (Manhattan Beach, CA), senior Andy Green (Seattle, WA), sophomore Ryan Shorey (Hollister, CA) and Blanchard posted an NCAA Provisional time of 41.42. This mark landed sixth all-time at Redlands as the first new entry to the list since 1988. Also, Blanchard's blistering speed paid dividends in the 110m Hurdles where he crushed the competition with his NCAA Provisional time of 14.50, which ranked as the fastest mark in NCAA Division III at that point in the season.
While competing against opponents from a variety of levels at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, the Bulldogs recorded numerous personal-best marks, including a handful of NCAA qualifying standards. Senior long-distance veteran Jeremy Kalmus (New Orleans, LA) posted a career-best time of 9:19.95 in the 3000m Steeplechase, giving him an NCAA Provisional mark. The senior clocked in as the runner-up in the event after improving his time by more than 12 seconds. For the women, senior pole-vaulter Kelsey Bermudez (La Verne, CA) unleashed a then-season-best vault of 11' 7 ¾" for second place overall while clearing the 11-foot-mark for the fourth consecutive time this season.
Wrapping up the conference dual-meet schedule, the squads dominated their opponents at the final head-to-head meet to remain undefeated. The Bulldogs posted solid wins over Cal Lutheran University, Occidental College and Whittier College to improve to 7-0 as they headed to the SCIAC Championship meet. The women's team collected six individual victories and won both relays, while the men notched seven event wins and finished first in both relays. In the team scoring, the Redlands women garnered a 125-point combined advantage as the men posted 196 more total points than their two opponents. Highlighting the women's squad, Bermudez took home the top prize in the Pole Vault and recorded an NCAA Provisional height of 12' 2". In doing so, Bermudez cleared the 12-foot mark for the first time in 2011. On the men's side, Green and junior Cameron Clark (Bellevue, WA), along with sophomore Bryan Artmann (Henderson, NV), all hit NCAA Provisional standards. Green just surged past Whittier's Kevin Curbelo to win the 200m Dash with a personal-best time of 21.59. En route to crushing the field in the 400m Hurdles, Clark finished more than three seconds ahead while posting his career-best time of 53.84. After not posting a height in five of his last six meets, second-year vaulter Artmann won the Pole Vault with a career-high mark of 15' 7 ¼".
In one of the season's major highlights, the men's team dethroned rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps from its 19-year reign as conference champion at the SCIAC Championship meet. The Bulldogs earned 166 2/3 points in an all-out team effort and surpassed the Stags in the final few events of the high-caliber competition. The 2011 SCIAC champion men's team registered 19 individual All-Conference honorees en route to their first SCIAC title since 1964.
Blanchard highlighted the men's success by amassing four individual All-SCIAC marks, including a first-place showing in his prized event, the 110m Hurdles (14.54). Blanchard finished as the runner-up in the 100m Dash (11.01) after a neck-and-neck race. He also took third and fourth, respectively, in the Long Jump (22' 11") and Triple Jump (43' ½").
Green also put together a stellar meet, earning three All-Conference nods while notching an NCAA Automatic Qualifying time in the 400m Dash of 47.54 for third place. The fourth-year sprinter also took second in the 200m Dash (22.07) and seventh in the Long Jump (21' 2").
In addition, the Maroon and Gray women recorded a second-place showing at the two-day conference finale. By combining their undefeated dual-meet results with their championship finish, Redlands repeated its title efforts from 2010 and garnered a share of the SCIAC crown with CMS.
In her final conference championship meet, Smith once again bested the field to take home the top prize in her specialty event of the Javelin. The Bulldog veteran became only the second female in Bulldog program history to win four SCIAC titles in the same event. Smith also placed as the runner-up in the High Jump with a season-best mark of 5' 1 ¾". This and her 140-foot-toss in the Javelin ranked as her best performances of the season so far.
Smith's brother, Kyle, joined her on the winners' podium after tossing a career-best 190' 9" in the same event, making it a family affair for the SCIAC Javelin champions. K. Smith's throw was more than 12 feet better than any of his previous marks during his Bulldog tenure.
Following the SCIAC Championships, the squads took down several school records at the Occidental Invitational in Eagle Rock. Long-distance specialists Kalmus and junior Emily Canales (Redlands, CA) each broke Redlands' previous records in the 3000m Steeplechase. Kalmus uncorked the fastest time of his Steeplechase career by shedding more than five seconds off of his previous best. The senior crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 9:14.63, which toppled the 19-year-old school standard by nearly four seconds. Canales clocked in a season-best time of 11:05.84 as she reset her own school record that she had established just one week earlier, improving by nearly 10 seconds.
In addition, the women's 4x400m Relay continued its success by edging out the program's all-time mark from a year ago. In 2010, the Bulldog women had broken a school record that had stood up for nearly 35 years. However, the quartet of sophomore Ashley Lively (Las Vegas, NV), sophomore Samantha Rivera (Thousand Oaks, CA), sophomore Vainayaki Sivaji (North Hollywood, CA) and senior Heather Mayer (Spring Valley, CA) reset the mark with a time of 3:53.17, which was a mere .34 seconds faster than last season's outstanding performance.
In the teams' final regular-season competition, four individuals and one relay surpassed the NCAA Provisional standard for their respective events at the Cal State LA Last-Chance meet. Sivaji recorded a time of 57.22 in the 400m Dash, finishing sixth overall. Bermudez and Smith repeated their national marks, while senior Kourtney Watring (Riverside, CA) unleashed a season-best leap of 38' 2 ¼" in the Triple Jump to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships.
With an already-illustrious season under their belts, the Bulldogs anxiously awaited the official announcement regarding the qualifiers to the NCAA Championships. When the list came out, it was great news for the Maroon and Gray, which sent 17 student-athletes to compete at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, OH. According to Director of Athletics Jeff Martinez, this is the largest cohort of Bulldogs to be selected for the national meet in the past 25 years and most likely the entire history of the program.
During the NCAA Championships, the Redlands put together an amazing string of success that concluded with a 14th-place finish for the men and a 65th-place showing for the women. Overall, nine individuals gained All-America honors for finishing among the top eight in at least one event.
Redlands notched its first All-America nod by way of the women's 4x400m Relay. Passing the baton around in 3:54.09, the combination of Mayer, Lively, Rivera and Sivaji ran the third-fastest time in program history, earning an eighth-place finish at nationals.
The men's 4x100m Relay also clocked in one of the best performances in school history, recording a mark of 41.19. The quartet of Green, Blanchard, Shorey and freshman Seth Drake (Ramona, CA) earned the squad five points for their All-America, fourth-place finish. Their time currently ranks as the fourth-fastest in the program's tenure.
In addition, both Blanchard and Green took home individual top-eight performances for All-America laurels in their respective events. In the final heat, Blanchard crossed the white stripe in 14.48, a mere .08 seconds behind the victor from Washington University (MO). Blanchard broke the 14.5 barrier on three occasions and was ranked as the top 110m hurdler throughout the 2011 season. Green notched the program's fifth-fastest time in the 400m Dash, registering a 48.02 effort during the finals. In his third-fastest race of the year, Green also picked up three points for the squad en route to his All-America performance.
On the women's side, Smith finalized her illustrious Bulldog career by garnering an All-America throw for the fourth consecutive year. With her toss of 137' 11", the senior finished eighth overall while eclipsing the 137-feet mark for the fourth time in 2011. Smith became the first and only UR female student-athlete to earn All-America accolades in the same event during each of her four years.
Beyond these distinctions, the Redlands track & field program gained three College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District nods in recognition of athletic and academic prowess. Bermudez, Watring and Smith all landed on the Second-Team list.
Furthermore, Smith was honored by Bulldog Athletics and the University of Redlands as the 2011 Frank Serrao Senior Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
With plenty to celebrate during this historical season, the Bulldog track & field program boasts great expectations for future success. While both teams lose major contributors in an illustrious senior class, the youth of the program looks forward to building off of this season's success under the continued guidance of Head Coach Mike Schmidt and his staff.