April 6, 2012

Sun Angel Classic Day One Results

Stanford Invitational Day One Results

Mesa Classic Results

TUCSON - The Arizona Wildcat No. 12 men's and No. 14 women's track and field teams competed in three events on Friday. At the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., the Wildcats won five events and set two of the top marks in the country. Arizona's throwers also had a strong day of competition at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

At the Stanford Invitational, juniors Nick Ross and Edgar Rivera-Morales took first and second place, respectively in the men's high jump. They both cleared 7-3.25 (2.22m) but Ross took first place with less attempts. On the women's side, junior Brigetta Barrett won with a clearance of 6-4.75 (1.95m). Barrett improved on her own top mark in the country; she entered the competition as the collegiate leader. She also tied Amy Acuff (USA) for the best outdoor mark in the world this season.

"I'm really happy (with my performance)," Barrett said. "My step is really consistent; this is the second week in-a-row where I've felt really natural and calm over the bar. (I felt calm) even over 6-6.75 (2.00m), my first attempt felt really good and really relaxed. I just need to learn how to stay relaxed over the bar and not try to rush it."

"It was a really good jumping day," Ross said. "It feels good to be back in California and near my hometown. Jumping went really well today; I had a couple of good attempts at 7-5.75, the Olympic B-Standard. It's going to take 7-7 (2.31m) to make the U.S. Olympic team and that height is my goal for the season. But 7-5.75 is one of my stepping stones."

Senior Stephen Sambu won the men's 5,000-meter race with a personal-best time of 13:31.51. Sambu ran an impressive final 400 meters, claiming the lead with about 50 meters to take the win. Sambu is now the collegiate leader in the men's 5K.

Junior Georganne Moline had another strong performance on Friday, winning the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.25. Moline entered the competition as the collegiate leader in the event. In the women's 400-meter dash, sophomore Shapri Romero won with a time of 53.91. Romero entered the race with the eighth-best time in the country.

Sophomore Lawi Lalang took ninth in the men's 1,500-meter race against a loaded field. Lalang clocked a personal-best time of 3:41.65. Senior Dahlys Marshall ran 13.66 in the women's 100-meter hurdles, coming in fifth place in her preliminary heat. Her time will advance her to the final on Saturday at 3:31 p.m. In the women's 100-meter dash, sophomore Germe Poston clocked a preliminary time of 12.02, advancing her to the final. She clocked a time of 11.81 in the final, good for seventh place. Sophomore Tamara Pridgett had a time of 12.17 in the preliminary race.

Junior Chris McSwain posted a time of 10.49 in the men's 100-meter dash, taking third in his heat and advancing to the final. McSwain earned a third-place finish in the 100-meter final with a time of 10.52. In the men's 400-meter dash, sophomore Sean Delfani won his heat with a time of 47.91, earning a fourth place-finish overall. In the women's 10,000-meter race, junior Jen Bergman and sophomore Elvin Kibet both set personal-best times. Bergman took 17th with a time of 33:10.87 while Kibet clocked a time of 33:13.58, good for 19th place.

At the Sun Angel Classic, junior Tyler Johnson took fourth in the men's hammer throw premier division with a toss of 209-4 (63.80m). On the women's side of the hammer throw, senior Taylor Bush also took fourth in the premier division with a personal-best mark of 200-7 (61.14m). Taylor Freeman competed in the open women's hammer throw, taking fourth with a toss of 183-3 (55.86m).

"We did a lot of good things (at the Stanford Invitational), in terms of winning championships today," head coach Fred Harvey said. "We won (five) championships which is really impressive at a meet of this magnitude. We accomplished a lot today and I thought this meet would give us a better indication of where we're sitting nationally and what type of things we need to work on for the future. We're excited, things have gone very well but like any program, there's still a lot of work left to be done."

Competition resumes tomorrow at the Stanford Invitational at 9 a.m. MST and at the Sun Angel Classic at 10 a.m. MST. Live results are available at www.rtspt.com/events/stanford/invite2012/ and video streaming is available at www.flotrack.org/coverage/248549-2012-Stanford-Invitational.