The men’s and women’s track teams had an impressive showing at the University of California, Irvine Spring Break Classic meet on Friday and Saturday. Not only did Biola set two new school records at the meet, but the team also secured six qualifying times for the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship meet.
Junior Alexandra Sciarra beat Biola alumna Natasha Miller’s (‘11) record by almost half a second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.86. Junior Whitney Fredenburg bested her own school record with a throw of 11.23 meters in the shot put.
“My first two throws were just average and on the third I was in the back of the ring and I was about to throw and I just thought, ‘This one is for you, Lord,’" Fredenburg said. “I didn’t really think about my throw or technique. I just went for it and it felt really good and the official measured it and it was 10 inches further.”
Freshman Kellian Hunt finished strong in both the 5,000 and 1500-meter run with qualifying times of 17:10.79 and 4:40.19, respectively. Senior Carly Tillery secured a qualifying time in the 3,000 steeplechase with a time of 11:25.50.
Freshman Nicole Falkenstein qualified and tied for fourth place after clearing the 3.55-meter mark on her second attempt in the pole vault.
On the men’s side, junior Jeff Tran qualified in the pole vault when he cleared the 4.57-meter mark on his third attempt.
“The men’s team is doing really well, we had a lot of indoor qualifiers this season, and we already have three for outdoor nationals," head coach Jonathan Zimmerman said. “The qualifiers we have so far are a good variety: the javelin, the pole vault and the marathon. They are working hard and have a good positive energy.”
Junior Danny Ledesma beat his personal best in the 5,000-meter race by 16 seconds on Friday with a time of 15:22.38 and placed eighth overall. Ledesma also ran his season best in the 1,500 the next day with a time of 4:01 and placed 21st in the finals out of 43 runners.
Biola will compete after spring break at the Pomona-Pitzer Classic on April 12.
