SCIAC Track & Field Championships Conclude, Tigers Finish Fifth

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (April 27, 2009) – Entering the final day of the 2009 Track & Field Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships both the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas and Stags led their respective fields and at the conclusion of the two-day event, both teams claimed SCIAC titles. The Occidental College men’s and women’s teams finished fifth overall.

Three women from the Tigers’ squad produced individual SCIAC titles. Junior Karuna Batcha was victorious in the 100 meter hurdles, freshman phenom Claire Larson won the 800m and Saturday senior three-time champion Kera Bartlett won the pole vault.

Batcha edged out Cal Lutheran’s Brett Cornejo for the 2009 100m hurdles title, finishing in 15.45. Oxy freshman Lauren Johnson also earned All-SCIAC honors by placing sixth ( 16.45) in the event. Batcha wasn’t done yet, though, as she went on to place fifth in the triple jump (34’4.25”) earning her second All-SCIAC recognition of the day.

Throughout the meet a strong freshman class led the way for the Tigers.

During the 800m run, Larson and classmate Anna Dalton, who finished fourth, paced the pack. Larson completed the run in 2:16.34 which was 2.73 seconds faster than the next closest finisher. Dalton came in at 2:19.85.

In the 1500 meter run first year Meghan Walen crossed the finish line sixth in 4:54.20, running with the top of the pack throughout the race.

The final All-SCIAC recognition on Monday went to dual-sport athlete Season Falkler Rodriguez. The sophomore cross-over Second Team All-SCIAC soccer player ran the 400 meter dash in a time of 59.72 to place fifth for the Tigers.

On Saturday Bartlett cleared 10’6” to claim her third consecutive SCIAC title. With numerous athletes vaulting 10’ a tie-breaker was put into place with Oxy junior Lisa Warren placing second and sophomore Diana Martin finishing fifth. 

The steeplechase was won by Evelyn Ross from CMS with Tigers junior Grace Peck finishing second in 11:41.30 followed by the freshman duo of Sadie Mohler (11:43.85) in third and Eliza Dornbush (12:02.48) in sixth to round out the All-SCIAC finishers for Occidental.

The men’s Championships were highlighted by a trio of second place finishes with  numerous All-SCIAC recognitions.

Junior triple jumper Sam Huie recorded a personal record with his leap of 46’3.25” finishing behind CMS senior three-event winner Jeff Clark. Adding to his conference honors, Huie finished fifth in the long jump on Saturday with a jump of 21’6.75 inches. Freshman teammate Matt Tsujimura finished sixth with a 21’2” jump.

Setting a collegiate personal best, sophomore David Minguez placed second in the pole vault clearing a height of 14’6”. Also earning All-SCIAC honors was freshman Sam Sleeper, who finished fifth after clearing 13’5.25”. 

A cross country cross-over, senior Clay Hoadley, ran a personal record in the 1500m, finishing second with a time of 3:57.56. Also garnering All-SCIAC recognition in the event was junior Victor Kali who finished sixth (4:07.34).

In one of the more exciting races of the weekend the men’s 4x100 relay team of senior Joe Hernandez, Tsujimura, sophomore Michael Fox and junior Dorian Vaughn combined to finish third in 42.98 behind CMS (42.38) and Redlands (42.82). Hernandez went on to finish fifth in the 100 meter dash in a time of 11.18.

Freshman cross country Runner of the Year Eric Kleinsasser lead for most of the 5000m run, but finished third after being passed by a pair of Stags in the home stretch. Kleinsasser came across in 14:56.95.

In the 800 meter run freshman Will Moseley and junior Jon Wheeler finished fourth and fifth in times of 1:58.51 and 1:59.16, respectively.

Both the men’s and women’s teams finished fifth overall.

Women’s Final Standings:
1. Claremont-Mudd Scripps – 175
2. Cal Lutheran University – 103.5
3. Whittier College – 81
4. Pomona-Pitzer – 69.5
5. Occidental College – 68.5
6. University of Redlands – 65
7. University of La Verne – 26
8. Caltech - .5

Men’s Final Standings:
1. Claremont-Mudd Scripps – 234.33
2. University of Redlands – 110
3. Cal Lutheran University – 66
4. Pomona-Pitzer – 63.33
5. Occidental College – 50
6. Whittier College – 29
7. University of La Verne – 28.33
8. Caltech – 8