Deats set to lead Panthers' track team in 2014

ORANGE, Calif. - The Chapman University women's track and field team, led by school record-holding sprinter Lauren Deats, is set to open its 2014 season at the Pomona-Pitzer All Comers meet on Feb. 15. The All Comers meet is the first of two meets preceding the Panthers' first conference competition at the SCIAC Multi-Dual #1 on March 8.

Deats, a sophomore who burst onto the scene with a record-breaking freshman season, earned All-SCIAC honors in the 100 and 200-meter dash. In her first season as a Panther, Deats broke an 11 year-old 100-meter school record with a time of 12.80 seconds, a time she would later break as she set the new school record at the SCIAC Championships with a time of 12.62 seconds. Etching her name in the record books a second time, Deats topped a 17 year-old school record in the 200-meter dash, finishing the SCIAC Championships race in 25.97 seconds.

Senior Ema Solarova will return as the Panthers' top competitor in the triple jump and long jump. Solarova jumped a season best 10.11 meters in the long jump at the SCIAC Championships.  In the same championship, she finished eighth in the long jump with a jump of 4.34 meters.

The Panthers will look to school record holder junior Lisa Peterkin to lead the team in the distance events.  Peterkin is the only remaining member of the 2012 4x800 relay team that set the Chapman record with a time of 10:46.53. In 2013, Peterkin set a career best in the 1500-meter race, finishing in 5:16.24.

Head coach Anna Wlodarczyk is faced with the challenge of a young roster that features only three upper-classmen, including one senior. She will showcase her youthful roster on Saturday at the All Comers meet, scheduled to get underway at 10:30 a.m.

by Mike Schwartz
Sports Information Intern

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