by Brice Nixon
Editorial Director
Two freshman had top-three finishes in four individual events to spark the University of La Verne women’s and men’s track and field teams to victory over Occidental, while the women also topped Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday.
“We were pleased,” said head coach Pat Widolff. “We had some good marks, some good surprises. The main thing I was really happy with [was that] we don’t have that many women, but they really competed, did a lot of events.”
Freshman Liz Lucsko was one, competing in six events, including both relays. She was first in the 100-meter intermediate hurdles (15.61 seconds), tied for first in the high jump (5-0) and was second in the 100 (12.94) and 200 (26.62).
Lucsko’s performance was key to the Leopards’ wins over Pomona-Pitzer, 86-65, and Occidental, 80-65 at the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) quad meet hosted by La Verne (3-1 in SCIAC).
Freshman Brandon Tedrow was second in the long jump, with a mark of 6.68 meters, and third in the 400 (51.31), high jump (5-10) and javelin (48.16). He was also fourth in the discus (133-8 1/2). La Verne (2-2 in SCIAC) outscored Occidental, 102-38, but Pomona-Pitzer topped ULV 90-72.
“We thought we had a chance to beat Pomona-Pitzer,” said Widolff. “They scored one-two-three in the hammer, one-two-three in the [shot put] and that was kind of it. Outside of those two events we could have beat them.”
At one point, Tedrow, who had just completed the javelin, scratched his last attempt in the long jump to hurry over for the start of the high jump, after which he ran the 110 high hurdles.
In the women’s sprints, freshman Dejuana Satchell won the 100 (12.67) and 200 (26.35) and senior Eboni Stanford was third (13.6 and 28.27).
The 400 and 1,600 relay teams took first against Pomona-Pitzer, their only competition in the women’s relays.
The men’s sprinters were second and third in the 100, topping Pomona-Pitzer’s entrants, and first and fifth in the 200.
The men’s 4×100 relay provided one of the meet’s highlights.
The Leopards were in second when junior Brandon Jones took the handoff and blazed into first. Junior Kephyan Sheppard finished off the race in 42.36. In the 4×400, La Verne was second to Whittier, 3:25.29 to 3:25.52.
Sheppard won the 200 in 22.27 and was second in the 100 (11.22). Freshman Will Lawson’s 11.24 placed third in the 100 and Jones was fifth in the 200 (23.15).
Jones’ first-place long jump of 6.68 meters led the Leopards, who claimed the top three places in the long jump, first and third in the high jump and second, third and fourth in the triple jump.
In addition to the long jump, Jones was third in the triple jump with a mark of 12.99 meters. Junior Andre Ike leaped 6-2 to win the high jump.
Freshman John Horton edged a competitor from Occidental, 6.30 to 6.26, for third in the long jump. He was nine centimeters short of winning the triple jump with a mark of 13.40. Sheppard was fourth with a jump of 12.29.
For the women, freshman Adriana Ramirez won the triple jump (10.37) and was second in the long jump (4.74). Stanford was third in the high jump (4-4).
The Leopards also had several top finishers in the throwing events.
Sophomore Diane Williams won the javelin with a throw of 112-5, while freshman Amber Clayton was fourth (83-4).
Freshman Stephanie Malesala was first in the shot put (10.86) and freshman Lindsay Main was fourth (10.30). Malesala also placed second in the discus, at 121-1/2, and Main was third behind two throwers from Pomona-Pitzer in the hammer (109-8).
Bobby Vail, a freshman, was second in the discus with a throw of 139-1/2 for the Leopards’ men.
In addition to Tedrow’s third-place showing in the 400, several other Leopards were in the top-four in the middle distances.
Horton was fourth in the 400 (51.75) and senior Dan Eckardt was third in the 800 in 2:00.35.
Senior Anna Caples was third behind two Pomona-Pitzer runners in the 800 (2:31.62) for the women. Clayton was second in the 400 (63.01).
The Leopards had no top finishers in the distance events except freshman Stephanie Pedroza, who tied a runner from Pomona-Pitzer for third in the 3000, finishing in 11:41.
La Verne did, however, have several competitors place in the hurdles. In addition to Lucsko’s top time in the 100 intermediate hurdles, freshman Bev Samano took second in the 400 low hurdles in 1:14.92. For the men’s team, Lawson was second in the 400 intermediate hurdles (57.13).
Today, the Leopards compete against Redlands, Whittier and Caltech in another quad meet hosted by Whittier at 3 p.m.
Brice Nixon
