Track & field opens season with solid marks at Soka

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University track & field teams opened the 2018 season with several top-10 finishes at the Soka Indoor Qualifier on Saturday. Junior Josie Chan took third in the triple jump for the Panthers' top finish of the day.

Chan, Chapman's triple jump record-holder, leaped 10.24 meters (33-feet, 7.25-inches)  to take third in the season-opening event. Sophomore Lauren Miller, another Chapman record-holder in the shot put, took eighth out of 20 competitors in the shot put. She opened the season with a toss of 10.07 meters (33-feet, 0.5-inches).

On the track, the women were led by freshman Angela Vaynshteyn in the 3,000 meter run. She took fifth in the event at 11:41.72. Sophomore Mallory Jones ran a lifetime-best in the mile at 6:17.31 and freshman Emma Eglinton took sixth in the 1,000 meter run with a 3:30.30.

The men's team saw a couple of heat winners on the way to top-10 overall finishes. Freshman Cade Becker won his first sprint for Chapman. He topped his heat and finished 10th overall with a 7.25 in the 60-meter sprint. Junior Leithan Pulon ran a 53.02 to win his heat of the 400-meter and take fifth overall in the event. Freshman Aki Shigeyama took seventh in the 400m, finishing at 54.17.

In the field events, Panther freshman Derek Ohara led the way with a ninth-place finish in the long jump. Ohara took ninth in the long jump with a jump of 5.74 meters (18-feet, 10-inches).