Carlson wins steeplechase, leads big first day at SCIAC Championships
LA VERNE, Calif. – Annika Carlson's steeplechase title highlighted a solid first day for the Chapman University track & field teams at the SCIAC Championships. Another pair of All-SCIAC finishes and several finals qualifiers have Chapman looking for its best finish ever in both the men's and women's standings.
Carlson made program history as the first female athlete to win an event at a nine-team SCIAC Championship meet. Her steeplechase win came at a school record time of 11:28.20. She led for the majority of the race, running side-by-side with her nearest competitor until the final lap when Carlson pulled away for the win.
Kalea Brown and Nick Burton also earned their way onto the podium in their respective field events. Brown took third in the women's pole vault as she demolished her own school record by clearing 3.67 meters (12-feet, 0.5-inches). Burton took second in the men's javelin throw with a toss of 53.71 meters (176-feet, 2-inches). He also qualified for the men's 100m dash final tomorrow with an 11.02 in sixth place.
Brown wasn't alone in scoring points for the Panthers in the pole vault as Adva Shilon took fifth in the event. Burton led a trio of Panthers in the top-8 of the javelin as he was joined by Davis Endow in fourth and Cole McFarlane in seventh.
In the field event finals, Alec Desuasido took fifth in the long jump with a 6.71 meters leap. Azriel Shakur led the Panthers in the hammer throw as he took fourth and Sean Longley followed in seventh.
Jadyn Ayala continued to reset her own school record in the hammer throw with a toss of 39.91 meters to take seventh. Brown added another half a point to the Panthers' team score with an eighth-place finish in the javelin.
There will be plenty of Panthers racing in the track finals tomorrow as Chapman saw continued success in the prelims. The sprints, in particular, set up the women's team for a big day on Sunday. Three Chapman runners qualified for finals in the women's 100m, 200m and 400m dashes.
The 400m could produce another Chapman champion as Kaylee Smith and Allie Kremer took the top two spots with Proud Kitnitchiva qualifying in sixth. Smith paced the field with a top time of 58.52.
Makenna Lizarde led the Panthers in the 100m and 200m dashes. She took fourth in the 200m with Kremer qualifying in sixth and Smith earning the last spot in eighth. Lizarde reboke the school record in the 100m dash with a 12.38 – just 0.01 seconds faster than her previous record. Khyra Stiner and Zoe Zurasky will join her in the finals after finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.
Panthers also qualified for finals in both hurdles races. Stiner's time of 15.99 in the 100m hurdles placed her sixth on the qualifying list and Katarina Maric ran a 1:07.85 to qualify in fifth in the 400m hurdles.
Mason Fara broke his own school record with a 48.59 in the 400m dash to take the top spot in the men's final tomorrow.
The men's team has already scored 26 points, which currently stands in third place overall. The women's team currently sits in fifth place with 22.5 points.
The discus gets underway at 10 a.m. tomorrow with the track events beginning at 2 p.m.
By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director