Poets represent well at Pomona-Pitzer Invitational

Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier men's and women's track & field teams took part in the Pomona-Pitzer Track & Field Invitational Saturday morning, which included teams from all across Southern California.

The men got off to a strong start as Stephen Fernandez ignited the Poets as he took first place in his heat in the shot put throwing a personal best 40'5".  Alex Jungsten then followed running a 15.87 in the 110 hurdles, while clearing 9'2.25" in the pole vault.

Frank Zakoda was equally as impressive as he ran a solid 400 hurdles to lower his season overall time to 60.14.

But the distance was where it was at for the Poets as Kevin Mancilla led a group of runners in the 1500 with a time of 4:16.44 quickly followed by fellow team members Jordan Vega, Marco Leone, and Jacob Arango. 

But not to be overlooked was the run of Brandon Rista who in the next heat ran one of his better races of the season with a time of 4:29.86.

On the women's side the Poets were paced by Michele Callaway who again dominated the field taking fourth place overall in the 5000 meter run with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 17:34.32 which is sixteenth best nationally for all Div. III runners. 

She was followed closely by fellow teammates Christine Verduzco who ran an 18:13.38 and Jamie Slingluff who ran an 18:38.68.

Freshman Marissa Pitman won her flight in the javelin with a personal best of 90'5. 

In the 100 and 200 meter dashes Carolyn Newswanger ran season bests of 12.75 and 26.71 respectively, while Rachel Kenny continues to improve running a 14.75 in the 100 meter dash.

Within the hammer throw, Essence Scott continues to make big improvements as she took a third place finish in her flight with a throw of 109'10".

Both the men and women will be in action on Saturday morning, April 16 as they take part in the Moorpark Invitational against SCIAC foes including Redlands, Occidental, and Cal Lutheran.