Tigers Host Distance Carnival, Battle SCIAC Schools at Top-4 Meet
Los Angeles, Calif ( March 16, 2008) – This weekend the Occidental College Tigers competed in both the Oxy Distance Carnival and the SCIAC Top Four Meet. The team came away with a new school record, a number of marks on the school All-Time Top Ten list, and a host of lifetime and seasonal bests.
On the women’s side, junior Kera Bartlett broke her own school record in the women's pole vault on Saturday as she cleared 11'11.75" to better the previous record by 1.25". She is now ranked second in the NCAA Division III across the nation. Perhaps, the most exciting thing about Bartlett's performance was that it came on a windy day where conditions didn't particularly favor the vaulters. With better conditions, Bartlett will have ample opportunities to add to her marks.
Sophomore Grace Peck also had a great weekend. On Friday night at the Distance Carnival, Peck ran the first 3000m steeplechase of her career. Her time of 11:35.36 makes her the second best female steeplechaser in the history of the college, finishing just three seconds off of the school record. Peck followed up her steeplechase by winning the 1500m at the SCIAC Top 4 Meet on Saturday with a new lifetime best of 4:58.18.
Junior Patty Armentrout recorded a new personal record on Saturday as she cleared 10' for the first time in the pole vault. Now, she is ranked among the top four athletes in the SCIAC in the event. Although she didn't set any new lifetime bests, sophomore Maddie Weissman looked impressive this weekend running two 800m races within 24 hours of each other in 2:21.09 and 2:23.66, respectively.
Both women in the 100m hurdles looked impressive with sophomore Karuna Batcha dipping below 16 seconds for the first time this season (15.97), and freshman Adrienne Daniels setting a new lifetime best of 16.74. The Oxy throwers also produced a pair of lifetime best performances. Senior Kaja Martin threw a new best of 117'05" in the javelin and junior Molly Frolich improved her best hammer mark by 3', launching the hammer out to 123'01".
For the Tiger men’s team, sophomore Sam Huie continued his recent good form, recording lifetime bests in both the long and triple jumps. Huie extended his long jump mark out to 21'5.25" and his triple jump to 44'02.5". Freshman Dallon Stang also recorded a new lifetime best with a 143'10" throw in the discus means. Oxy now has the number one and two discus throwers in the SCIAC. Senior Chris Kyles also had a good day in the throws improving his seasonal best in the shotput to 44'10.25", which ranks him third in the conference.
Both junior Clay Hoadley and sophomore Jon Wheeler looked good in their 800m races over the weekend. On Friday night, both Hoadley and Wheeler set seasonal bests of 1:58.59 and 1:59.97, respectively, before coming back on Saturday afternoon and going 1-2 in the 800m at the SCIAC Top Four Meet in 2:00.58 and 2:00.93 (Wheeler edging Hoadley). Junior David Martinez was another distance runner who looked impressive over the weekend. In his first ever 5000m race on the track, Martinez broke away from the field over the last 800m to win his heat at the Distance Carnival in 15:54.52.
Next weekend the Tigers travel to UC Irvine for the Collegiate Classic, where they will compete against UC Riverside, Yale, Cornell, Southern Utah, Concordia, and George Fox. The event will last all day.
