February Update:
Our Men’s & Women’s Track & Field team traveled to Azusa Pacific University last weekend for their season opening meet at the APU Last Chance Qualifier. To say the least, they were more than ready to get started. In their first meet, 7 indoor school records were broken! What an incredible way to make a strong statement right off the bat! “This is the strongest showing we’ve ever had to start off the season. They all looked good and were ready to roll,“ said Head Coach Gigi Freeman.
Junior Brianne Anderson from Temecula, CA, set the stage by breaking her own 600 meter record with a time of 1:48. Fellow teammate Freshman sensation Lauren Clemens from Tustin, CA, nailed a strong performance and broke the mile record with 5:45. The Men were quick to keep the pace going. Junior Cole Gauthier from Encino, CA, broke both the 600 meter (1:27) and the 1000 meter record (2:34)!
Sophomore, Nick Spector, from Sonoma, CA also ran an impressive race in the 5000 meter with a time of 14:56 which not only broke the previous school record but also qualified him for the NAIA Indoor Championships in March. Fellow teammate and co-captain Senior Gianni Reynolds from Folsom, CA will be joining Spector in March in the 400 meters. Reynolds broke his own record in the 400 meter with a personal best of 47.9.
The team will be taking this momentum on the road on Feb. 16th to Northern Arizona University and then back to Azusa Pacific University on the 18th. They’ll be competing on a fast 300 meter indoor track and both the Men’s and Women’s 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams will be making their debut performances as well. In addition, some teammates will be competing in field events for the first time. Freshmen Demetrius Lee will be representing SUA in the long jump and Sophomore Liza Kuznetsova in the triple jump. With such a strong start in the season, there is much anticipation of what more these athletes can do. “You can see that the program’s growing and getting stronger. Our Freshmen and Sophomore athletes look strong which shows long term promise. I expect everyone will do well in the upcoming meets.” Head Coach Gigi Freeman