The Azusa Pacific men’s and women’s track and field team competed in 20 events at the Cal-Nevada Collegiate Championships on Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5 against more than 20 other colleges. By the end, the women placed ninth overall and the men 14th.
This was the second consecutive year UC San Diego hosted the championships at the Triton Track & Field Stadium.
The women’s team accumulated 27 points and tied with NCAA Division I school UC Santa Barbara to fall just behind Division I outfit Cal Poly (46.50). The men’s team totaled 19 points, cruising behind Cal State Stanislaus (25) and ahead of Westmont College (13).
Women’s highlights
Sophomore Allison Updike placed first with a record of 163 feet 7 inches, beating her previous personal record of 152 feet 9 inches and smashing the program record of 153 feet 6 inches set by Vanessa Wilhelm in 2000.
Sophomore Danica Dobosy placed second in the women’s discus throw. She threw her personal best of 142 feet 8 inches. Dobosy placed sixth in the hammer throw, scoring 164 feet 8 inches. Freshman Kaylee Fink placed sixth in the discus throw with a new personal record of 128 feet 8 inches.
Seniors Jordan Chesley and Diandra Carstensen and freshmen Leslie Graciano and Kanoe Yadao finished third in the 4×400 women’s relay race with a time of 3:58.91, trailing behind Cal State San Marcos and Cal Poly.
Sophomore Reika Kijima and Carstensen competed in the 800-meter preliminaries. Kijima progressed to the finals, finishing in eighth with a personal best of 2:12.55.
Men’s highlights of the championships
Junior Justin Young threw his way into third place in both the discus and javelin throw. Young recorded 138 feet 8 inches in the discus throw and a personal best of 157 feet hurling the javelin.
Junior Ronald Douglas and freshmen Ben Byer and Brennan May each competed in the men’s 100-meter dash preliminaries. Douglas was the only one to advance to finals. He placed seventh and beat his previous personal record of 10.94 with a 10.90 time. Douglas also advanced to the finals in the 200-meter dash, finishing sixth with a record of 21.90.
Junior Peter Buscheck placed sixth in the 3000-meter steeplechase, beating his personal record with a time of 9:25.89.
Senior Sameer Sedam and freshman Matthew Kenney competed in the 400-meter hurdles, both registering a personal best. Sedam recorded a time of 56.73, landing in fifth place, while Kenney notched 58.99, finishing in eighth.
The women’s team from San Diego State took first place after being scored for all 20 events. Long Beach State and UC Irvine trailed behind, landing in second and third place.
On the men’s side, Long Beach State placed first overall. UC San Diego followed in second and Sacramento State placed third.
The Cougars will be competing next at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational in Claremont on Saturday, April 12.