The University of Redlands track & field teams enjoyed their first of four home meets during the 2016 outdoor season, competing against a broad spectrum of athletes at the Redlands Invitational on Friday evening.  Among the highlights of the meet, Kota Minemura of Japan broke the stadium record with his outstanding leap of 26' 1" in the Long Jump.  Furthermore, the Bulldogs put together solid results that included multiple season- and career-best marks that now rank among the best in NCAA Division III.

For the women, junior Alison Smith (McKinleyville, CA) uncorked the fastest time in Division III in the 100 Hurdles by crossing the finish line with a career-best of 14.29.

Also, she ran anchor for the blistering 4x100 Relay that fired off a time of 48.75, which currently ranks second in the country for NCAA Division III.  Sophomore Courtney Crain (Happy Valley, OR), junior Jasmine Ramos (Santa Fe Springs, CA), and freshman Kara Romani (Sacramento, CA) completed this quick quartet for the Bulldogs.

Sophomores Vanessa Blanchard (Palmdale, CA) and Mandy Widen (Vail, AZ) each took home gold-medal showings in their respective events.  Blanchard won the High Jump with a height of 5'3" and now leads the country, while Widen cleared the Pole Vault at 11' 5 ¼" for the fourth-best mark in Division III. 

Furthermore, Romani impressed with her leap of 17' 9" in the Long Jump, which places her atop the Division III list so far this season.

For the men, senior Joey Colucci (San Jose, CA) unleashed a time of 10.80 in the 100 Meters to become the second-fastest Division III sprinter for 2016.  He added a time of 21.99 in the 200, which ranks him fifth in the country.

Senior Pekthra Chhor's (Loma Linda, CA) career-best time of 50.56 in the 400 Meters landed him among the top 15 in the nation.  Freshman Nathan Munoz (Rio Rancho, NM) currently leads all of NCAA Division III in the 110 Hurdles after registering a time of 14.74 on Friday evening.  Sophomore Afari La-Anyane (Morgan Hill, CA) closely followed in today's race with a time of 15.08.   

The 4x100 Relay of sophomore Dale Stoller (Santa Cruz, CA), Colucci, junior Myles Speegle (Castro Valley, CA), and Munoz completed the race with a time of 41.61 to pace the nation.

Redlands competes again at home on Saturday, April 2, when it hosts the SCIAC Multi-Dual No. 2 at 11 a.m. in Ted Runner Stadium on Ashel Cunningham Track.