Saunders places second in hurdles, Chu sets mark in 400m

LA VERNE, Calif. – The first SCIAC meet of the season saw another school record fall for the Chapman University men's and women's track and field teams on Saturday, as well as a handful of other standout performances for the Panthers in La Verne.

Junior sprinter Fiona Chu set a new Chapman mark, finishing fourth place in the women's 400 meters with a time of 1:00.09, nearly breaking the 1-minute mark. She broke a nearly three-year old record by .68 seconds. She was also the Panthers' top finisher in the 200 meters with a time of 27.18 seconds.

Another Chapman record was just centimeters away from being broken as freshman jumper Gina Pasquinelli placed fifth overall in the women's long jump with a measure of 5.14 meters. Her jump was a season-high and just .05 meters from equaling the school mark set in 2012 by Darcy Hardwick.

And sophomore distance runner Cathryne Ramirez placed fourth out of 19 competitors in the 1,500 meters with a time of 5:08.44.

On the men's side, freshman hurdler Griffin Saunders set a season-best and placed second overall in the 110-meter high hurdles, crossing the finish line in 15.55 seconds as just .06 seconds separated first through third places. Sophomore sprinter Johnny Michalik set a season-low in the 200 meters and finished in sixth place with a time of 23.27, while placing seventh in the 100 meters with a mark of 11.45.

The Panther men and women will travel to Occidental College on Friday, March 13 for the Oxy Distance Carnival beginning at 2:30 p.m.

by Doug Aiken  
Sports Information Director

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