The University of Redlands track & field teams put up solid results during the 2015 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships on Friday and Saturday in Eagle Rock, registering six event titles, various All-Conference efforts, and multiple career-best marks. While utilizing their depth, the Bulldog women finished in second place with 117 points and the Redlands men jumped to third with 128 points in the meet standings.
For the women, senior Maddie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) shined by capturing her fourth high-jump championship to head up a top-three sweep for the Bulldogs. She cleared a height of 5'3 ¾" and moved ahead of freshman Vanessa Blanchard (Palmdale, CA) on a judge's decision. Senior Alexandra Blalock (Indian Wells, CA) completed the 1-2-3 showing for the Maroon and Gray with her third-place mark of 4' 11 ¾".
Sophomore Alison Smith (McKinleyville, CA) repeated as the 100 Hurdles champion, this time winning the event in 15.11. Freshman Courtney Crain (Happy Valley, OR) made her championship debut a memorable one by taking third in the hurdle-sprint for All-SCIAC honors with a time of 15.68.
Freshman Kaylee Jorgensen (Claremont, CA) improved upon the fastest 800-Meter time of her young career by unleashing a 2:20.25 for third place and All-Conference recognition.
Senior Della Lyle (Buffalo, WY) registered a third-place finish in the 3000 Steeplechase with a time of 11:14.85 to improve upon her previous fastest showing by more than 15 seconds while collecting All-SCIAC accolades.
Junior Lauren Roberts (Portland, OR) earned All-SCIAC honors in the conference's first-ever 10K with her second-place time of 32:23.28 and then posted a career-best performance of 17:44.56 in the 5000 Meters for fifth place.
The women's 4x100 Relay of Crain, sophomore Jasmine Ramos (Santa Fe Springs, CA), freshman Sophie Brooks (Seattle, WA), and Smith put together a third-place time of 48.75 for the fastest of the season for the Bulldogs.
Freshman Mandy Widen (Vail, AZ) and senior Merritt ten Hope (Phoenix, AZ) joined forces for a strong pole-vault outing, earning second and third place, respectively, for All-SCIAC honors. They both recorded a height of 11' ¾" but Widen earned the higher finish after competing in a jump-off with the eventual champion.
Sophomore Brianna Wilkinson (Lafayette, CA) unleashed a distance of 115' 8" in the Discus Throw for fifth place, while junior Kylie Scott (Snohomish, WA) posted the same finish in the Hammer Throw by reaching 127' on her final heave. Sophomore Maddie O'Leary (Vernonia, OR) joined this duo among the top seven in the Shot Put, as she took fourth with a career-best toss of 37' 6 ½". Wilkinson recorded a sixth-place mark of 35' ½" to better her previous best by four inches, while Scott fired off a seventh-place distance of 33' 5 ¾".
Scott and A. Smith headlined the Bulldogs' success in the Javelin Throw by earning fourth (113' 2") and sixth place (111' 10"), respectively.
On the men's side, senior Darren Centi (Auburn, CA) collected two individual titles in his final SCIAC Championship meet, winning the 400 Meters in 47.16 and breaking the tape in the 200 Meters in 21.50. His 400-time ranks first in all of NCAA Division III as a career-best effort. Furthermore, he completed the shorter sprint for the first time this season to win the SCIAC title.
Junior Joey Colucci (San Jose, CA) and senior Taylor Browning (Carbondale, CO) complemented Centi's winning performance in the 200, as they took third (22.00) and fifth (22.04), respectively.
Sophomore Myles Speegle (Castro Valley, CA) uncorked a first-place time of 10.64 in the 100 Meters, which ranks him among the top 10 in the nation for this season. Colucci closely followed in fourth place with a time of 10.72.
The Bulldogs collected significant points with a 2-3-4-5 showing in the 400 Hurdles, as sophomore Auston Tribble (Glenwood Springs, CO) led the charge with his time of 54.81. Freshman Afari La-Anyane (Morgan Hill, CA) crossed the finish line in third at 56.65 to round out the Bulldogs' All-SCIAC recipients in this event. Junior Pekthra Chor (Loma Linda, CA) and freshman Alex Wiegand (Rochester, NY) completed the impressive list for Redlands after completing the full lap with career-best times of 56.84 and 57.50, respectively.
In addition, La-Anyane impressed with his second-place showing in the 110 Hurdles as he crossed the finish line with a time of 15.31 for All-Conference accolades.
Juniors Ian Lee (Las Vegas, NV) and Nathan Meier (Riverside, CA) posted solid results in the 3000 Steeplechase, as each fired off a career-best time. Lee came in fourth by completing the race in 9:33.61, which was nearly 15 seconds faster than ever before, while Meier clocked in at 9:45.95 for a slightly improved mark.
Senior Chris Bolt (Reno, NV) made the most of his final conference event by taking fifth in the first-ever 10K at the SCIAC Championships. He completed the long-distance race in 32:30.78.
The men's 4x100 Relay of freshman Dale Stoller (Santa Cruz, CA), Colucci, Speegle, and Browning lived up to the expectations by winning the race in 41.14 to improve upon its seed time. This quartet now ranks among the top five in all of NCAA Division III for 2015.
The 4x400 Relay of senior Antwain Morgan (Granada Hills, CA), Tribble, Browning, and Centi completed the exciting final race on the track with a time of 3:15.29 for second place.
Elsewhere, senior Peirce Clark (La Cañada, CA) and freshman Drew Heimdahl (Kirkland, WA) represented the Bulldogs in the High Jump by earning second and fourth place, respectively. Clark leaped to a career-best height of 6' 6 ¾", while Heimdahl cleared 6' 2 ¾".
Finally, senior Lant Abernathy (Templeton, CA) fired off the best mark of his career at 166' 9" in the Javelin Throw to finish eighth overall. He improved by more than 20 feet from his previous standard.
Redlands now looks forward to competing in the Oxy Invitational on Saturday, May 9, at 10 a.m.
