March 1, 2008

Complete WCC Track Challenge Results in PDF Format

Complete SFSU Invitational Results in PDF Format

The USF Men's and Women's Track and Field teams competed in the first competitions of the 2008 season this afternoon; The runners competed at the WCC Track Challenge held at Pepperdine, while the throwers and vaulters competed at the SFSU Invitational. Between the two competitions, the Dons set six school records Saturday afternoon in the women's 100m, 3000m, 4x100m and distance medley relay and in the men's 3000m and pole vault.

At the WCC Track Challenge, senior Cheyne Inman and junior Alex Nelson led the Dons on the men's side, while junior Michelle Born led the women.

Inman, who won the WCC Cross Country Championship in the fall, won the 3000m against a deep field with a school record time of 8:30.27, beating the old school record by five in half seconds. Nelson, who set the school record last season in the 800m and 1500m, defended his titles from last year at the WCC Track Challenge with winning times of 1:54.87 in the 800m and 3:59.59 in the 1500m.

On the women's side, Born also set a new school record in the 3000m with a winning time of 9:54.11 beating the old school record of 9:54.38 and defeating conference foe Laura Mickelson, a four time NCAA qualifier. Also running well in the women's 3000m was senior Jennifer Hartford who finished third with a new personal best of 10:09.60 and freshman redshirt Laurel Kleiber, finishing with a personal best of 10:18.

Also performing well for the women was freshmen Nicole Bowler who finished second in the 1500m with a new personal best of 4:41.69 and also ran a leg on the winning distance medley relay team (12:17.62) that also included freshman Hannah O'Neal, Born and senior Zita Mezei. O'Neal also finished second for the Dons in the 400m (60.77) and Mezei was second in the 800m (2:20.18). In the sprints freshman Gabriel Harrington was third in the 200m (27.94) and fourth in the 100m (13.43).

The throwers and pole-vaulters competed at the SFSU Invitational and were led by sophomores A.J. Fabrizio and Alex Irani, who placed first and second in the shot put. Fabrizio beat his personal best of 13.51 with a winning throw of 14.23m and Irani had a throw of 12.97m. Also placing well in the shot put was freshman Oliver Kirkeby who finished fourth with a collegiate best of 12.75m.

Sophomore Alex McIntosh set a new school record in the pole vault while finishing third with a mark of 4.50m, beating his school record of 4.25m, which was set last season and freshman Alexander McHenry (42.98m, fifth place) and junior Alex Delgadillo (40.91m, seventh place) had good debuts in the javelin for the Dons.

For complete results from the WCC Track Challenge and the SFSU Invitational please click on the links above. The Dons will be back in action next weekend when they travel as a full squad to UC Davis to compete against Stanford, Fresno St. and the host Aggies.