Highlighted by the breaking of multiple school records and various individual accolades, the University of Redlands track & field programs enjoyed yet another successful year in 2013. Before sending 10 qualifiers to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, both of Redlands' teams finished among the top half of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) for the fifth time in Head Coach Mike Schmidt's six-year at the helm of the Bulldogs. With a diversified and talented roster, the U of R men took third and the women came in fourth, as the Bulldogs continued to build upon the rich traditions of the program by leaving their own marks on history during this exciting campaign.
Equipped with high expectations on the season, Redlands opened competition with a small group of contenders at the Caltech All-Comers Meet in early February. On the women's side, sophomore Alexandra Blalock (Indian Wells, CA) captured first place in the High Jump by clearing a mark of 5' 3", while fellow sophomore Maddie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) took home top honors in the Javelin with a distance of 99' 6". The strong sophomore class continued to shine when Lauren Tritz (Orange, CA) registered a first-place distance of 15' 7 ½" in the Long Jump and Merritt ten Hope (Phoenix, AZ) cleared the top height in the Pole Vault at 10' 0". For the Bulldog men, senior Bryan Artmann (Henderson, NV) won the Pole Vault by clearing a height of 13' 11 ¼" as a sign of things to come for this veteran competitor. In addition, Junior Darron Usher (Yucaipa, CA) shined in the Long Jump with a first-place mark of 21' 11".
A week later, the quartet of senior Christina Donovan (Beaverton, OR), Blalock, senior Ashley Lively (Las Vegas, NV), and senior Vainayaki Sivaji (North Hollywood, CA) combined for the top time of 49.82 seconds in the 4x100 Relay during the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers Meet. The sophomore duo of Amy Pumputis (Redmond, WA) and Casey Foster (Riverside, CA) joined Sivaji and Lively in the winning 4x400 Relay, blowing away the competition with a solid early-season time of 4:05.62. On the men's side, the foursome of freshman Pekthra Chhor (Loma Linda, CA), sophomore Darren Centi (Auburn, CA), senior Ryan Shorey (Hollister, CA), and senior Daniel Wallengren (Calabasas, CA) just missed out on the top spot in the 4x400 Relay by clocking in at 3:23.52, which was just 0.41 seconds off the first-place time.
After four Bulldog sprinters gained experience at the Rossi Relays, Redlands continued to gear up for the quickly approaching SCIAC Multi-Duals. In the first conference showdown of the year, the U of R took on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and Caltech in Pasadena. Both teams garnered split results on the day, with strong victories over the Beavers. Sophomore Taylor Browning (Carbondale, CO) provided two first-place finishes, winning the 100 Meters in a speedy time of 10.95 seconds and the 200 Meters in a time of 22.01 seconds. He also anchored the 4x100 Relay that included freshman Nick Norton (Reno, NV), freshman Joey Colucci (San Jose, CA), and Wallengren, and crossed the line with a first-place mark of 42.13. Additionally, freshman William Clark (La Cañada, CA) won the High jump by clearing a height of 6' ¼". Highlighting the women's performances, Lively recorded a first-place time of 12.70 seconds in the 100 Meters, while Smith and Blalock took first and second, respectively, in a judge's decision after clearing a height of 5' 3 ¼" in the High Jump.
Artmann shined at the Redlands Invitational when he reset his career-best mark in the Pole Vault with a height of 16' 1 ¼" for the top spot in the meet. The impressive height also ranked him among the nation's elite, still relatively early in the campaign. Sivaji uncorked a winning time of 25.48 seconds in the 200 Meters for the women, while junior Jazzmin Altamira (Winnetka, CA) impressed by taking second in the Hammer with a distance of 126' 6".
At the next SCIAC Multi-Dual meet, a quartet of Bulldog male runners stole the show in the 800 Meters, grabbing each of the top four spots in the race. Sophomore Dominic Lopez (Las Vegas, NV) captured first-place honors with a season-best time of 1:57.40, while freshman Jonathan DeGroot (San Leandro, CA) broke the two-minute barrier at 1:59.55 for second place. Senior Tom Marshall (Hillsboro, OR) clocked in a third-place mark of 2:00.86 and junior Derik Harrison (Centennial, CO) finished off the sweep with a time of 2:01.12. The female foursome of Blalock, Pumputis, Sivaji, and Lively continued its dominance by blowing away the competition in the 4x400 Relay with a winning time of 3:56.02. While scoring against the Whittier College and the University of La Verne, the Bulldog men and women both registered comfortable triumphs over the Poets but came up short against the Leopards.
After a select number of field competitors gained experience at the Cal-Nevada Championships in late March, the U of R geared up for the final stretch of the 2013 campaign.
At the SCIAC Multi-Dual No. 3, the men rolled to a 3-0 showing with comfortable victories over Cal Lutheran University, Occidental College, and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The women performed valiantly as well, registering wins over Chapman University and Occidental, while tying with Pomona-Pitzer and falling to Cal Lutheran. The male foursome of Browning, DeGroot, Lopez, and Marshall impressed in the 4x400 Relay, crossing the finish line in first place with a season-best time of 3:20.79. Browning also uncorked winning times in the 200 Meters (21.78) and the 400 Meters (48.53), with his 400 Meters time being the best of his career. In the men's throwing events, junior Jorge Cervantes (Indio, CA) recorded a career-best distance in the Discus (156' 10") to nab top honors in the event. Junior Gilbert Navarro (Chula Vista, CA) threw the Javelin a distance of 188' 3", which was more than 23 feet ahead of the next-best finisher in the event. For the women, Sivaji continued to dominate the 200 and 400 Meters with first-place times of 25.56 and 57.17, respectively. Freshman Kylie Scott (Snohomish, WA) led the way for the women's throwers with four top-four performances, including a career-best hurl in the Shot Put of 32'.
The Maroon and Gray continued to prepare for the SCIAC Championships when it traveled to the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational in mid-April, competing against top-notch foes from all NCAA divisions. Following improvements for a number of Bulldog student-athletes, Redlands had two more weeks to ready itself for the biggest conference meet of the season.
At the 2013 SCIAC Championships in Eagle Rock, the Redlands men finished in third place with 126.0 points, while the Bulldog women took fourth with 87.50 points. Among the highlights, Usher defended his title in the High Jump by clearing a height of 6' 5 ½", which was the exact same mark that won the event in 2012. The Maroon and Gray men dominated the Pole Vault, taking each of the top-three spots. Artmann nabbed the title (15' 3 ½"), while junior Chris Bode (Elk, WA) and senior Cory Colbath (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) tied for second place (13' 11 ¾"). Elsewhere, Cervantes captured the Discus title with a heave of 146' 7". Despite clocking in a career-best time of 21.59 seconds, Browning just missed out on the 200 Meters championship with a second-place showing among the talented field. Moreover, Lopez uncorked a career-best time in the 800 Meters (1:53.78) for the bronze, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind the second-place competitor.
On the women's side, Sivaji fired off a new school-record time in the 400 Meters, crossing the finish line in a blistering first-place effort of 55.70 seconds. She also won the 200 Meters with another career-best mark of 25.10 seconds. Lively nabbed a pair of silver medals, with the first coming in the 100 Meters (12.31) and the other coming in the 400 Hurdles (1:03.14). In addition, Smith successfully defended her title in the High Jump by clearing a height of 5' 5 ¾", while ten Hope set a new career-best mark in the Pole Vault with a mark of 11' 6 ¼" en route to taking top honors. Additionally, the 4x400 Relay of junior Lihini Weerasinghe (Redlands, CA), Blalock, Sivaji, and Lively combined for a championship-winning time of 3:53.93 seconds.
For their efforts throughout their senior seasons, Sivaji was named the SCIAC Female Track Athlete of the Year, while Artmann collected the SCIAC Male Field Athlete of the Year honor. Redlands was the only conference school to receive multiple Athletes of the Year for 2013.
With work still to be done in order to qualify for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships, many individuals continued to compete for the Bulldogs in last-chance qualifiers.
During the Azusa Pacific Last-Chance Qualifier in mid-May, the 4x400 quartet of Weerasinghe, Blalock, Sivaji, and Lively combined for a new school-record time of 3:51.26, putting themselves in good position to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
The time proved to be just enough, as the foursome was selected to compete at the national meet, which was set to take place at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in late May. Sivaji and Lively also qualified for the400 Meters. For the men, Browning headlined the group by earning a spot in the 200 Meters and as a member of the 4x100 Relay. Joining him on the Relay, Usher, Colucci, and Shorey all made the trip to the NCAA Championships. Additionally, Artmann and Colbath rounded out the Bulldog qualifiers by earning a spot in the Pole Vault.
The opening day of the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships saw the 4x100 Relay uncork a season-best mark of 41.01 seconds, ranking the foursome as the second-fastest Relay in program history. The time also qualified the quartet for the event finals. Browning furthermore qualified for the finals in the 200 Meters, crossing the finish line in a new career-best time of 21.53 seconds. In the men's Pole Vault, Artmann performed exceptionally well and took fifth place overall by clearing a height of 16' ¾", while Colbath finished in a tie for ninth place with a mark of 15' 7". With his fifth-place effort, Artmann became a Pole Vault All-American in his final year with the Bulldogs. In addition, the Redlands women's 4x400 Relay combined for a 12th-place time of 3:51.42 in the preliminaries, moving up from the pre-race seeding but not qualifying for the finals.
On Day Two, Sivaji and Lively ran side-by-side in the preliminaries of the 400 Meters, with Sivaji finishing strong on the last straightaway to win the heat (56.19) and automatically qualify for the event final. Lively was not far behind with a new career-best time of 56.71 seconds, but the mark just missed out on advancing her to the finals.
Sivaji provided the highlight of the final day for Redlands, uncorking a new career-best time of 55.44 seconds in the 400 Meters to finish as the national runner-up. While collecting the silver medal, Sivaji and the Bulldog women's efforts landed the Bulldogs in a tie for 33rd overall at the 2013 NCAA Division III Championships. Unfortunately, the men struggled with injury and mishap that day and completed neither race, but thanks to Artmann's fifth-place performance in the Pole Vault, the Redlands men finished in a tie for 53rd in the overall standings.
While compiling numerous championships, career-best marks, and record-breaking performances throughout the course of the season, the Bulldog track & field teams had much to celebrate during the 2013 campaign. Despite the loss of a strong senior class, Head Coach Mike Schmidt's squads feature a talented core of returning competitors who already boast solid experience. As this exciting year comes to a close, both the men and women look forward to continuing the success of the program while building upon the rich history with their own unique contributions.