On Saturday, members of Biola’s track and field team were at Pomona College for the 24th Annual Pomona-Pitzer Track and Field Invitational. Coach Zimmerman brought a young squad to Pomona and the underclassmen did not disappoint.
On the women’s side, freshman Rachel Stump came out of nowhere to win her heat in the women’s 1500 meter in 4:51:83, improving her personal best time by 12 seconds. She is getting close to the qualification time in that event. In the 3000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Nychele Fischetti set her personal best finishing in 11:06:87, which was good enough for second place out of 12 runners. Also in the race, sophomore Katie Sikkelee set her personal best at 12:43:60, good enough for 11th place.
On the men’s side, sophomore Ryan Hanson finished tenth out of 40 competitors in the javelin with a throw of 50.96 meters. Freshman Alex Calkins impressed with an eighth place finish out of 29 in the Pole Vault, clearing the bar at 4:30 meters. One of the leaders of the team, senior Kyle McNulty came out strong with a time of 9:27:75, a personal best, in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase. That was good enough for fifth place in the field of 15. Also in the race, freshmen Spencer Lyle and Joseph Harabedian set personal best times finishing in 10:09:80 and 11:32:20 respectively.
“Everybody was super focused coming into the meet after having a week off of team practice for spring break,” McNulty said. “And I think it showed in having five of us steeplechasers setting personal best times. Everyone was pleased with their effort, but we are definitely wanting to improve and place well in conference in two weeks.”
Other top Biola finishers included sophomore sprinter Brooke Forsi who finished in 26.97 for 43rd overall in the event. Sophomore Clarissa Kenney finished 31st in the 800 meters with a time of 2:25:04. Junior Connie Andersen finished 18th in the 400 meter hurdles in 67.83. For the men, freshman sprinter Matthew Bacchus finished 38th in the 100 meter dash. In the 200 meters, sophomore Gabriel Aeschliman finished in 22.91, which was good enough for 28th in the field of 71.
The Eagles have two weeks and three more events to prepare for the GSAC Championships on April 23 and 24. Their next race is the Azusa Pacific Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific beginning at 9 a.m.
