REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Track and Field teams completed their 2023 outdoor regular season with the Redlands Final Qualifier on Wednesday-Thursday, which included four new times/marks that rank Top-22 nationally (Top-22 qualify for nationals).
Men
For the Bulldog men they had 15 Top-3 finishes, six personal bests, including two in the decathlon, and a qualification mark.
The most notable men's Bulldog performer of the meet was Markelle Raymond (Fresno, CA) who ran a 10.45 100m time that is a personal best, the ninth fastest time in Division III this season, and improves his school record third fastest time by 0.01 seconds as he took fifth place.
Raymond added a 7.39m/24' 3" mark on his final jump in the Long Jump before passing on his final attempt in order to run in the 100m. That mark was good enough to win the event.
In the 400m Jamir Jones (Fairfield, CA) ran a 49.41 and finished third.
Ronan Byrne (Portola Valley, CA) ran a personal best 3:54.78 in the 1500m as he finished as the runner-up. His time moves him into fifth all-time at Redlands.
The Bulldogs went 1-2 in the 5000m as David Huggins (Salem, OR) and Easton Means (Moraga, CA) ran times of 16:05.78 and 16:57.70.
Enrique Verschoor (Mar del Plata, Argentina) was the runner-up in the 3000m Steeplechase after running a personal best time of 9:52.30.
Redlands' 4x400 relay team of Hunter Greer (Wildomar, CA), Jenner Sherman (Eugene, OR), Byrne, and Jones took second place with a time of 3:24.60.
In the High Jump Owen Schmitz (Fremont, CA) was the runner-up thanks to a second height clearance of 1.90m/6' 2.75".
Adding to the strong day in the jumps was Allyn Asberry-Blanco (Orange County, N.Y.) as he won the Triple Jump with a second-to-last attempt of 13.63m/44' 8.75". Coming in behind him was Schmitz who had his best mark on his first jump, which was a 13.47m/44' 2.5".
Wyatt Gibson (San Jose, CA) led the charge in the throws with a third place finish in the Shot Put and a second place finish in the Discus. In the shot his best throw came on his fourth attempt when he posted an 11.26m/36' 11.5". He wasted no time in the Discus, throwing 34.62m/113' 7" on his first attempt.
Joining Gibson in the Top-3 of the discus was Tyler Davies (Lake Forest, CA) who finished third with a fourth throw of 34.41m/112' 11".
In the Decathlon both Jacob Huset (Tacoma, WA) and Nikolas Sorich (San Jose, CA) posted personal best scores. Huset scored 5470 points and Sorich scored 3794.
Huset posted personal bests in five of the 10 events: Shot Put (10.50m/34' 5.5"), 400m (52.57), Discus (31.59m/103' 8"), Javelin (45.29m/148' 7"), and the 1500m (5:41.19).
Women
The women were led by Sydney Harness (Henderson, NV), Ciara Aw (Shoreline, WA), and Ella Bachmeier (Rancho Capistrano, CA) who all had great competitions.
Harness took sixth in a very competitive 100m as she ran a new program record 11.90, the 13th fastest in Division III this season. Her time moved her from third when she ran a 12.06 at the Redlands Final Qualifier last season as she beat her teammate Alexandra Ackerman' (Lake Elsinore, CA) old record time by 0.01 seconds. Harness also posted a 24.77 in the 200m, just off her personal best of 24.73 that ranks second all-time.
Speaking of Ackerman, she took eighth as she ran a 12.04 in the 100m, a time that is better than her time last season of 11.91 and Harness' time.
Aw took second place in the Long and Triple Jump with marks of 5.76m/18' 10.75" and 11.06m/36' 3.5". The Long Jump mark is a personal best and the program's second best all-time as she improved her mark from 5.75m/18' 10.5" last weekend at the Azusa Pacific Franson Last Chance. She now sits 19th in Division III in the Long Jump.
In the Heptathlon Bachmeier was the event winner as she set a new personal best score of 4435 points, which included personal bests in the Shot Put (9.83m/ 32' 3"), 200m (26.16), and 800m (2:28.41). Like Aw, Bachmeier had just set her personal best last weekend, when she scored 4421 points. She stands fifth all-time in program history and 23rd in Division III, one spot out of the final qualifying spot, though, there could be scratches that could get her an invite.
In the 4x100 relay Maigan Adams (Los Angeles, CA), Ackerman, Harness, and Sabrina Semmere (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) were unable to better their 47.05 time from SCIAC No. 2 as they ran a 47.26, good for third.
Chloe Bullock (Hood River, OR) won the 800m in 2:16.35 and took second place in the 3000m Steeplechase with a time of 11:39.77 as she was looking to qualify for nationals in both events.
Sheriane Greene (Grass Valley, CA) ran a personal best time of 5:16.54 in the 1500m.
One of the new potential qualifiers for nationals was first-year Elee Faulkner (Blaine, WA) who ran a 1:02.82 in the 400m Hurdles as she was the event runner-up. Her time currently is 22nd, which is the cut off spot. She also moves into third all-time in program history.
Adams won the Triple Jump after battling through faults on four of her six jumps as she won the event thanks to a third attempt of 11.24m/36' 10.5".
Caeli Havel (Pahrump, NV) had a big day with two personal bests and a pair of top-two finishes. She won the Discus with a personal best of 41.54m/136' 3", which came on her third throw. She then took second in the Shot Put with a 9.66m/31' 8.5" throw on her second-to-last attempt.
The other top-three finisher in a throwing event was Noelle Chavez (Yucaipa, CA) who was the runner-up in the Discus as she threw 40.51m/132' 11" on her second attempt.
For the Bulldogs they await the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) announcement of the official qualifiers for next week's NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships in Rochester, N.Y. which will take place on Thursday-Saturday, May 25-27. Details on the qualifiers and the championships will be posted when available on the website.
