The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer track and field teams brought a formidable presence to the SCIAC multi dual meet at Occidental College last Saturday. Though the two teams didn’t score against each other, both routed other schools in the conference.
The CMS women’s team swept the competition, defeating Occidental College (99-64), the University of La Verne (122-40), and Chapman University (157-4), and scoring eight first-place individual finishes.
The P-P men’s team also swept, claiming its first victory over Occidental (101-61) in five years. The Sagehens also beat La Verne (103-59) and Chapman (139-7), taking first-place in nine events.
“It was a super exciting weekend for the whole team, especially beating Oxy in a dual meet for the first time in five years,” Cal Neikirk PO ’19 said. “To know that the hard work that you put in at practice translates to success in meets is the best feeling in the world. I’m happy and proud to have won three events this weekend and am excited to continue improving and getting my times and marks better in the future.”
2016 NCAA 100-meter national champion Tyra Abraham SC ’18 was the standout Athena Saturday, winning both the 100- (11.94 seconds) and 200-meter dashes (25.11), and helping the 4×100 meter relay team to victory in 47.50, along with Grace Pratt CM ’21, Danielle Honan CM ’21, and Nirel Jones Mitchell CM ’20.
Bryn McKillop SC ’18 fought her way to victory in both the 800- (2:15.21) and 1500-meter (4:34.40) runs, while Ellen Berkley CM ’18 ran 11:22.84 to win the 3000-meter steeplechase by more than 20 seconds, and Emily Bassett CM ’18 earned three field victories in the shot put (11.79 meters), discus (39.41 meters), and hammer throw (58.49 meters).
The Sagehen men dominated the distance events: Peter Davis PO ’19 won the 1500-meter (3:56.28), Andy Reischling PO ’19 claimed gold in the 5000-meter (15:14.06), and Julian Degroot-Lutzner PZ ’19 was victorious in the steeplechase (9:34.27).
On the field, Ethan Hardacre PO ’20 won the long jump (6.66 meters) and triple jump (14.05 meters), while Calvin Aylward PO ’18 was first in javelin (51.96 meters). Neikirk hurdled his way into first place in both the 110- (15.32) and 400-meter races (54.70), and also won the high jump with a 1.90 meter leap.
Though the Stags and P-P women did not fare as well as their counterparts, both teams still snagged their share of wins.
While the Stags narrowly lost to Occidental 82-79, they did beat La Verne 89-74 and Chapman 133-12. Corbin Bethurem CM ’19 won the 100 (10.96), Reese Peterson HM ’20 claimed the shot put title (12.23 meters), and Matthew Sill CM ’21 won both the discus (39.84 meters) and hammer throw (39.01 meters).
The Sagehen women defeated Chapman 120-22, but fell to Occidental 109-53 and La Verne 82-69. Helen Guo PO ’20 won the 5000 (18:57.90), Vicky-Marie Addo-Ashong PO ’20 won the high jump (1.6 meters), and Jessica Finn PO ’18 won the javelin (36.40 meters).
“It felt fantastic taking first in the 5000 and second in the 1500,” Guo said. “In the [week] following the meet, the team and myself have been steadily increasing our mileage, as well as putting in longer and tougher workouts.”
P-P men’s head coach Jordan Carpenter said his team’s wins made him optimistic about the future.
“It was a great day for the Sagehens,” Carpenter said. “Really, this meet showed our squad that we can compete with the top teams in the conference. We know that those teams will continue to improve as the season progresses, so we have to remain focused and keep improving as well. I think that the battle for the conference title is going to be very tight this year so it will be very exciting to see the rest of the season unfold.”
Members of the CMS men’s and women’s teams declined to comment on their performances.
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