SportsTrack & Field

Meet provides mix of competition

Senior Anthony Jones ran the 100m with a time of 11:62 in the fourth heat at Saturday’s invitational at ULV. Jones was also a part of the 4 x 100 relay team with juniors Anthony Rice, Anthony Hayes and Jason Neal, who are all going to the nationals in Chicago. They won the event with a time of 41:59. / photo by Melissa A. Collett
Senior Anthony Jones ran the 100m with a time of 11:62 in the fourth heat at Saturday’s invitational at ULV. Jones was also a part of the 4 x 100 relay team with juniors Anthony Rice, Anthony Hayes and Jason Neal, who are all going to the nationals in Chicago. They won the event with a time of 41:59. / photo by Melissa A. Collett

by Greg Maher
Staff Writer

Track and field does not consist of just a couple of referees, one scoreboard, 60 minutes or nine innings. It takes much more than that to put together a track and field invitational.

Last Saturday, the University of La Verne hosted an invitational and faculty, staff and students all gathered to put together an organized sporting event.

“Jim Paschal got a lot of people to work. Teachers, faculty, and even the football team was out there to help. It was a good day, it went well. All the other coaches were complimentary,” said head coach Pat Widolff.

There were 14 teams in Saturday’s meet., consisting of junior colleges, NAIA and NCAA Division III schools.

“There were all levels at this meet, a good mix of competition,” said Widolff.

With much of the season still ahead of them, Widolff is optimistic and looking forward to the meets ahead.

Tomorrow the team travels to San Diego for an invitational, then to Riverside for another on April 6. On April 13 it will host a SCIAC event.

Widolff is enjoying the presence of his two assistant coaches. Will Darity, who coaches jumpers, and Robert Sprung, who coaches the distance runners on the team.

“They are working really well,” said Widolff.

The day before, the Leopards participated in a SCIAC meet.

“In league meets we keep score, who won, who lost. The difference between that and an Invitational is that Invitationals are a time to set personal records, achieve new marks, lower times, and increase distances; no score is kept,” said Widolff.

Last weekend at La Verne’s Invi­tational they were excited to learn that its 4×100 team qualified for nationals, breaking a school record with a time of 41.59. Members of that team are Anthony Hayes, Anthony Rice, Liron Wilson and Jason Neal, all juniors.

“We are excited they qualified. There are 300 Division III schools and only 18 go to Nationals. So for them to qualify automatically for Nationals is a big deal,” he said.

“I am pleased so far. We don’t have as much balance as I hoped for. For example we have no hurdlers. As a coach you like to have balance. You like a lot of people in every event. We have a lot of people in some events, and some events we don’t. Overall I am happy though,” said Widolff.

Greg Maher
Other Stories Bio
Melissa A. Collett
Other Stories Bio
Previous article
Movie Review: ‘Girl 6’ delivers fantasy
Next article
Split doubleheader brings softball record to 11-6

Latest Stories

Related articles

Baseball

A century of La Verne sports

With over 400 athletes across 18 teams, it is easy to take La Verne’s athletic programs for granted. But as with many great things, our sports came from very humble beginnings.
Baseball

Eight athletes inducted at Hall of Fame ceremony

The University of La Verne inducted eight former student-athletes, as well as the entire 1981 women’s volleyball national championship team, into the Athletics Hall of Fame at a ceremony Saturday at Sheraton Fairplex Hotel and Conference Center.
Baseball

La Verne premieres Campus West

The stands were filled with students, parents, alumni and other members of the La Verne community to commemorate the grand opening of the Campus West athletics facility. Located on Wheeler Avenue, the new baseball and softball fields at the facility finally made their debut Tuesday.
News

Tuition increase set for fall

The Board of Trustees has approved the 6.5 percent tuition increase, bringing the total undergraduate cost to $33,400.