CLAREMONT, Calif. – Cal Lutheran men's and women's track and field continued to build momentum heading toward the postseason with a productive showing at the Pomona-Pitzer Invite on Saturday, highlighted by standout performances, program top-10 marks, and a wave of personal bests.
On the women's side, the Regals were led by a strong middle-distance effort from
Sloan Pullen, who placed 10th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:18.36 while winning her heat. Her performance also moves her to seventh all-time in program history.
Gracie Gervacio paced the sprint group, finishing 21st in the 100 meters (12.64) and 26th in the 200 meters (26.01).
In the hurdles,
Jodie Oparanaku placed 18th in 16.50, while
Kaitlyn Brongiel led the field events with an 11th-place finish in the high jump (1.46m).
Taylor Dominguez cleared 3.05 meters in the pole vault to take 13th.
Niani Jones contributed in the horizontal jumps, placing 18th in the long jump (4.99m) and 11th in the triple jump (10.89m). In the throws,
Sophia Green competed across all three events, finishing 21st in the discus (33.06m), 21st in the hammer (36.16m), and 24th in the shot put (9.60m), while
Gabriela Pullen added a 14th-place finish in the javelin (30.09m).
The Kingsmen also turned in another well-rounded performance, highlighted by
Michael Holland's standout day on the track. Holland placed seventh in the 100 meters (10.78) and fifth in the 200 meters (21.71), winning his heat and moving up to sixth all-time in program history in the event.
The sprint group also saw success in the relays, as the 4x100 team of
Craig Jackson, Holland,
Tyler Thompson, and
Logan Brock placed sixth in 42.77, while the 4x400 squad of Thompson,
Caden Ferguson,
Dylan Orquiola, and Holland finished seventh in 3:26.38.
In the field events,
Drew Nees delivered one of the top performances of the day with a runner-up finish in the high jump, clearing 1.91 meters.
Camden Hyde added a 12th-place finish in the long jump (6.39m), while
Darrin Parham placed 12th in the triple jump (12.71m).
The throws group was led by
Kyndrie Bolton and
Wyatt Nowak in the shot put, placing 14th (13.10m) and 15th (13.04m), respectively.
Marcus Rojas took 13th in the discus (40.57m), while Bolton added a 14th-place finish in the hammer (45.78m).
Julian Sepulveda rounded out the group with a 21st-place finish in the javelin (42.67m).
Overall, Cal Lutheran recorded 24 personal-best performances on the day and six heat or flight victories, as winning a section at the meet earned athletes a commemorative t-shirt. Among those winners were Holland (200m), Pullen (800m), the men's 4x100 relay, Green (discus), Sepulveda (javelin), and
Dylan Massengale-Franklin in the 100 meters.
With just one more weekend of competition remaining before the SCIAC Championships, Cal Lutheran will split its squad next week. A group of qualifiers will compete at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa on April 17-18, while the rest of the team heads to the Cal State LA Twilight on Thursday, April 16.
