March 4, 2008

MALIBU, Calif.-The Broncos started their 2008 season off right at the WCC Challenge meet in sunny Malibu last Saturday, shattering several school records along the way.

Sophomore transfer Stephanie Wilson broke the school record for the Women's 3000m with a time of 10:21.28, placing fifth overall. Senior Danielle Miller also came close to the record with a time of 10:27.5. Juniors Veronica Vazquez (10:32.48) and Noelle Lopez (10:34.02) along with senior Blossom Marimpietri (11:09.73) rounded out the Bronco participants in the 3000m.

For the 1500m, freshman Melissa Conlin was the lone Bronco competing, placing sixth overall with a time of 4:59.33.

In the shortest distance for the women, freshman Jackie Lynch competed in the 100m dash, placing fifth with a time of 13.73. Freshman Jennifer Hinds missed the school record for the 400m dash by just one-tenth of a second, winning the event with a time of 60.58. Fellow freshman Kashmir Brown took fourth place in the event as well with a time of 1:02.20.

In the relays, the Broncos took a second place finish in the 4X400 meter relay. The team of Lynch, Conlin, Hinds, and junior Brittany Hodill posted an overall time of 4:19.75. In the 4X100 relay, freshmen Brown, Hinds, Lynch, and sophomore Joanna Gistand placed third with a combined time of 51.42.

Sophomore Gistand was the lone competitor in the hurdles for the Broncos, taking second place in the women's 100m hurdles and fourth place in the 400m hurdles.

On the men's side, senior Michael Delaurenti broke a school record in the 3000m race with a time of 8:39.3 and a third place finish overall. The Broncos had a total of seven runners in the event, with sophomores Alex Harkins (8:53.32), Andy Backus (9:14.16), John Howard (9:38.17), junior Daniel Smith (9:03.64), freshman Matt Spear (9:38.97) and senior Chris Gumbs (9:02.84) all participating in the event.

In the men's 4X400m medley, sophomores Harkins and John Laughlin along with junior Ben Snyder and freshman Robbie Reid took second place overall with a combined time of 3:33.08. In the men's distance medley, freshmen Spear, Mike Calcagno, Garret Smith, and junior Daniel Smith placed third with 11:28.15.

For the shorter distances, junior George Sanchez sprinted to a third place finish in the men's 100m dash with a time of 12.04, with sophomore Greg Stettler following close behind with a fifth place finish of 12.14. Sanchez and Stettler also took fourth and fifth place in the 200m dash as well with their respective times of 24.38 and 24.75.

Freshman Reid provided one of the most exciting finishes of the day when he was able to hold off a charging Loyola Marymount runner to take second place in the 1500m with a time of 4:07.97, with Snyder (4:10.98) and Calcagno (4:25.55) placing eight and tenth respectively for the Broncos. Sophomore Laughlin was the only runner for the 800m run and took fourth place with a time of 1:59.92.

Up next for the Broncos will be a trip to Chico State to compete in the Wildcat Relays on March 8th, 2008.