April 16, 2011
RESULTS
WALNUT, Calif. - The school record lists will need some reordering Friday for the the University of Arizona's No. 9 women's and No. 26 men's track and field teams as individuals from both squads posted a myriad of impressive results during the second day of competition at the 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
In a meet that saw several members of the UA's distance squads opening up in their primary events for the 2011 outdoor season, seeing strong results may not come as too much of a surprise. But the manner in which the student-athletes accomplished the feat across the board is what made Friday at Hilmer Lodge Stadium so special.
Redshirt junior Abdi Hassan really got things going for the Wildcat distance squad in the Olympic Development section of the men's 1,500-meter run, taking fourth in his heat in a new career best time of 3:41.57. The time will move Hassan up the Arizona rankings a bit to the No. 5 spot all-time in the event and should rank as one of the top marks in the nation early this season.
Sophomore Jennifer Bergman, who already set herself as the third fastest 10,000-meter runner in school history earlier this season, continued her incredible sophomore campaign with an equally impressive run in the Olympic Development Elite section of the 5,000-meter run. Bergman finished in 16:04.72 for the third fastest time in Arizona history. The time places her behind former national champions Amy Skieresz and Brenda Sleewenhoek, and just one-hundredth of a second shy of the latter's career best of 16:04.71.
Even more impressive, perhaps, was the fact the the time was a solid 19 seconds quicker that she ran the distance last season as a freshman and barring results from other meets going on this weekend, will rank her in the top-10 on the NCAA descending order list. Bergman currently ranks 12th in the country in the 10,000-meters.
The results kept pouring in from that point on the men's side, with junior Stephen Sambu and freshman Lawi Lalang making a case as one of the top 1-2 combinations at 5,000-meters in the nation. The two athletes ran nearly identical times in separate heats with Sambu starting things off with his best outdoor run of his career at the distance in the Elite Invitational section, where he finished as the top Division I performer and ninth overall in 13:34.19.
Lalang didn't waste time nearly matching that performance, winning the Olympic Development section in 13:34.62 – demolishing Robert Cheseret's freshman record of 13:45.88 set in 2003. Even more notably, Lalang did it in his very first race at the distance.
The performances now rank Sambu and Lalang second and third, respectively, on Arizona's historical descending order list and among the top-10 runners in the country.
Also among the notable distance events on Friday was sophomore Elizabeth Apgar's performance in the 1,500-meter Olympic Devlopment run for the women, where she set a new career best of 4:23.79 to move up to tenth all-time in UA history.
The first big run of the day came early on out of freshman Shapri Romero, who has quickly made a case for being one of the top new recruits this season. Romero finished third overall in the open section of the women's 400-meter dash on Friday with a new career best time of 53.69. The time was also good for the sixth fastest run in school history for the youngster.
In the field events, senior Robert Gire continued his impressive and somewhat surprising season, winning the men's shot put with a new career best of 18.73m (61-5 ½). Much has been made about the shot putters on the Wildcat women's side this season, but the men are making a case to be just as formidable with Gire and teammate Bozidar Antunovic ranking in the top-10 nationally this season in the event.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Johnson moved up on the all-time list as well in the men's hammer event, setting a new collegiate best of 61.36m (201-4) to finish second overall and rise to eighth in UA history.
Arizona will be back in action tomorrow to wrap up the competition in Walnut with several more athletes competing in the invite-only events that will take place throughout the day. Check back at the conclusion of the day's events for a compete recap.
