by Brandi E. Baumeister
Staff Writer
The SCIAC season is over and the University of La Verne’s track team is looking ahead to nationals and focusing on upcoming invitational track meets.
Cal Poly Pomona was the site of the track invitational last Saturday.
The women placed third in the conference, while the men finished in fourth place.
“This meet is to get us ready for nationals,” said head coach Pat Widolff before the invitational.
“We are only taking 16 [athletes], eight men and eight women,” Widolff said.
Because some members are trying to qualify for Nationals, the next several invitationals will be critical for many athletes.
“We won’t know until May 19 who is exactly going to Nationals,” said Widolff. Nationals will be held in Chicago, Ill., May 22-25.
“There were no school records this weekend. We had average competition,” said Widolff.
Some of the schools that participated at the Cal Poly Invitational included Southern Utah, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Pomona-Pitzer and Cal Poly Pomona.
Widolff said that several club teams and individuals participated in the invitational.
Juniors Jason Neal and Anthony Rice placed first in their respective events. Neal ran the 100m with a time of 11.0 and and Rice ran 21.8 in the 200m. Both Neal and Rice have qualified for Nationals.
In the high jump, senior Erika Spencer jumped 5’2”, with her personal best being 5’5”. Likewise, freshman Lyn Merrill had a personal best in the 1,500m. Junior Ian Castro placed second in the discus with a throw of 123’.
Brandi E. Baumeister
