April 21, 2012

Mt. SAC Relays Results

Walnut, Calif. - The University of Arizona Wildcat No. 14 men's and No. 13 women's track and field teams finished the second day of competition at the Mt. SAC Relays on Friday at Hilmer Lodge Stadium. Arizona won one event and set a school record on Friday.

Senior Taylor Bush set the school record in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 209-3 (63.78m), good for fourth place. That mark is a personal best and currently sits as the No. 7 mark in the country. The previous record was set by Angela Foster on March 17, 2001. She had a toss of 207-3 (63.16m).

"It's really exciting," Bush said. "I feel like I had been talking myself up to this point, `Oh, I can get the school record, it's not that far off.' In practice earlier this week I actually threw the school record, so I was really excited for the opportunity this weekend to actually set the record. Now that I did it, I just feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I'm really excited for the rest of the season."

"For a lot of different reasons, that was really special to me," head coach Fred Harvey said. "I've known Taylor (Bush) for her entire life. For her to come to Arizona as a sprinter and then end up as the school-record holder in the hammer, that is a great story and will be remembered for a long time. It is definitely something to be excited about as a program."

Junior Georganne Moline captured the women's open 400-meter race with a time of 52.92. That mark is a personal-best, the fourth-best time in school history and currently the No. 11 time in the country this year.

"At first, when I got out in the first 200 (meters), it was definitely not the pace I was supposed to be going" Moline said. "Coach Harvey said the pace I was going was like 54 seconds, but the last 200 (meters) I dug deep and just gave it all I had. It definitely is a boost of confidence for sure. When I run at the Pac-12 Championships it will definitely help and it will be good to have that background and that confidence."

Sophomore Lawi Lalang earned a second-place finish in the men's invitational 5,000 meters. His personal-best time of 13:18.88 is the second-best time in UA history, No. 2 collegiate time and the No. 4 time in the world this year. That time also meets the "A" Standard for the Olympic Games in London. The standard was 13:20.00.

Sophomore Elvin Kibet had a personal-best time of 15:57.20 in the women's olympic development 5,000 meters. She earned a 10th-place finish and set the second-best time in school history. Junior Jen Bergman earned a third-place finish in the women's open 5,000 meters, clocking a personal-best time of 16:04.31. That is the third-best time in school history.

"I was excited," Kibet said. "Coming into the race I was pretty confident that I was going to run a pretty good time. I went a little too fast in the beginning and slowed down in the end and I should have done the opposite. But in the end, I'm happy with my time. 15:57 was the time we were shooting for and I'm happy I got that."

Sophomore Shapri Romero clocked a personal-best time of 23.77 in the women's open 200-meter dash. Romero earned a fifth-place finish and her time ties the seventh-best mark in school history. Senior Echos Blevins came in 15th with a wind-aided time of 23.99. Poston had a wind-aided time of 24.08, good for 17th place.

Junior James Eichberger took fourth in the men's open 800 meters with a season-best time of 1:48.25. For the women, junior Melanie McGrath had a personal-best time of 2:11.75, good for 54th. Junior Elizabeth Apgar clocked a time of 2:12.06 for 60th place. In the men's open 400 meters, sophomore Sean Delfani came in ninth with a time of 47.42. Junior Chris McSwain took 11th with a personal-best time of 47.47.

"We did a lot of things well," Harvey said. "Georganne (Moline) starting off with a personal best in the 400 meters, at that time of day, got us off on the right foot. James (Eichberger) ran a tremendous race considering the pace was pretty slow, he still had a good time and that was an exciting race. Melanie McGrath had a great time in the women's 800 meters and that was a pretty big personal best for her and was really good for her confidence. Shapri (Romero) running 23.77 was a good way to top off the day for the sprinters, I was really pleased with all of the ladies in the sprints."

LaTisha Holden, an alumnus of Arizona ran in the open 100-meter hurdles on Friday. Holden took first overall with a time of 13.26. Holden holds the school record in the event.

The final day of competition will begin on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. Live results for the event are available at http://flashwest.com/12Meets/12MtSacRelays/ and video coverage will be available at flotrack.org.