March 10, 2009
Santa Clara, Calif. - In its first official weekend of competition this year, the Bronco track and field teams opened the season by shattering three school records at two meets last Saturday.
At the Gator Preview (San Francisco, Calif.) on Sat., March 7, the women set two school records. Sophomore Kazimir Brown broke the school record in the 100m at 12.48, finishing as the top collegiate (third overall); and sophomore Jackie Lynch broke her own school record in the 200m at 26.92, also finishing as the third-best collegiate (15th overall).
"Kaz is training very well right now and is looking to have a strong sophomore season. 12.48 is a nice starting point," said Bronco sprints coach Greg Marshall.
Running just the 5000m at the Benny Brown Invitational (Fullerton, Calif.) on Sat., March 7, three Bronco women finished 1-3-4 on the school's top times list in the 5,000m. Junior Stephanie Wilson shattered the school record by more than 22 seconds and bested her own personal best by more than 42 seconds when she placed 10th in the race, crossing the finish line at 17:02.08. She is just 10 seconds from qualifying for the NCAA Regional Meet (May 29-30 in Eugene, Ore.). Wilson was the Broncos' second-top finisher at the 2008 WCC Cross Country Championship and was named All-WCC in cross contry.
Senior Whitney Porter finished with the third-best time in school history, also putting in a strong personal-best time of 17:40.05, finishing fifth in Section Two. Following her closely was senior Noelle Lopez, who posted the fourth-best time in school history at 17:42.80, also a personal best while finishing seventh in Section Two.
"All three looked in total control during the race indicating that there is a whole lot more in the tank. Racing without duress is so important early in the season. The women were ready to fun fast and they showed it today," said Bronco head coach Tom Service. "They ran really tough and re-wrote the record books in the 5,000m. We are very excited for the rest of the season."
On the men's side at the Gator Preview, Robbie Reid jumped to fourth on the Santa Clara's all-time top times list, finishing at 14:57.60, when he finished in sixth place. Reid was Santa Clara's top cross country runner in 2008 and the Broncos are looking for big things from him outdoors.
Also running at the Gator Preview, junior John Laughlin was fourth in the 1500m at 4:04.31 and freshman Evan Hennessey opened his collegiate track season by running a 15:26.46 in the 5000m. Freshman Nicole Gove finished 10th with a personal-best 18:14.50.
On the men's side in the field events, freshman Aaron MacCoubray was fourth in the high jump, clearing 6' 4. Freshman Reid Furukawa was fourth in the long jump, hitting the pit at 20' 6.
"Running at the Gator Preview Santa Clara ran a really solid first meet of the year. We set a number of personal bests and looking forward to continuing progress this season," said Bronco assistant coach Felipe Montoro.