Maija Girardi sets up to throw — Photo by Larry Newman

Posted: Jan 28, 2022

Track and field kicks off the 2022 season

ORANGE, Calif. – Chapman University track and field kicks off the 2022 season this Sat., Jan. 29 at the OIDFE Challenge Meet at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The roster showcases strong returning talent as well as some new promising candidates.

Junior Maddie Mirro enters the season after coming off of a NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship appearance in Louisville, Kentucky in the fall where she took 198^th with a 23:08.7 6k. To conclude the 2020-21 track and field season, Mirro earned All-Region Honors from the USTFCCCA in two events.

Mirro secured the top time in the West Region in the 1500m by nearly three seconds with a 4:38.04 to end the season with a school record as well as a top-30 time in the nation. Mirro ranked second in the region in the 800m after another school record time of 2:16.47 at the Redlands Final Qualifier.

Alongside Mirro, Anthony Hart returns to the track in 2022 after earning USTFCCCA All-Region distinction in the 300m steeplechase during the 2020-21 season. He set a personal record at the SCIAC Championships beating his previous time by nearly seven seconds to win the SCIAC title with a 9:05.58. He ranked fourth in the West Region.

Current senior Maija Girardi returns to the Panthers after taking first in the Javelin at the Redlands Final Qualifier in 2021. She won with a toss of 34.04 meters (111-feet, 8 inches).

Sophomores Daniel Schwaiger and Chris Dyckman return after capturing SCIAC titles and the SCIAC Championships as freshmen. Schwaiger won the long jump with a leap of 6.45 meters (21 feet, 2-inches). Dyckman won the javelin with a throw of 46.95 meters (154-feet) surpassing the rest of the field by seven meters. He set the best mark in Chapman DIII history.

Sean Longley enters his first year of competition with the Panthers. He was a two-sport athlete at Desert Vista High School in Arizona and helped his track and field team to a state championship his senior year. Kayla Almeida joins the squad as a sophomore, she placed 11^th at the HHSAA Cross Country State Championships in 2019 and helped her team to a state title while attending Punaluu High School in Hawaii.