Scales Bests Own 800m Program Record, Track & Field Wins Three Races at APU Invite

Posted: Apr 03, 2021

AZUSA, Calif. — Santa Clara track & field produced yet another stellar showing as its outdoor season rolled on at the Azusa Pacific Invitational & Distance Carnival. Alex Scales lowered his own program record at 800 meters while Jack Davidson, Zach Litoff and Xander Olivero each won an event for the men. All 12 of the women's runners crossed the finish line with new collegiate-best times at Cougar Athletic Stadium.

In total, nine Broncos posted top-three finishes and eight runners helped rewrite Santa Clara's top-10 lists. The men's team also had nine student-athletes land a spot on the 2021 NCAA Division I West Outdoor Qualifying list and eight land a spot on the national qualifying list.

"What a night of racing," head coach Felipe Montoro said. "The team came to compete, and it was so fun to watch. We had a slew of tremendous efforts and we were rewarded with more than one national-level performance. "The biggest story for me was the team's energy and support of one another. I'm a big believer in the idea of momentum in athletics. Tonight, both teams were feeding off of eachother's performances and the positive energy was palpable.

"I'm so proud of this team and can't wait to come back to Azusa Pacific in two weeks."

"There was so much to celebrate on the track tonight," associate head coach Pete Cushman added. "From 400 meters to 5,000 meters, just a bunch of competitive, gritty, strong performances from these women. We have come so far since we first reported back a month and a half ago, and we've got great momentum and enthusiasm to keep building on as the season continues."

Scales took more than two seconds off his 800m program record with a 1:49.86, good for a third-place finish in the field of 22. His mark is the 21^st-best time regionally and 34^th-best time nationally. Scales is the first Bronco runner to go sub-1:50 in the event.

Hayley Harrison had the top overall finish for the women's team, taking 8^th place at 5,000 meters with a PR time of 17:26.21.

MEN IN THE USTFCCCA #EventSquad RANKINGS

The men's team ranks seventh in the country at 10,000m and 30^th at 1,500m in the Week #2 USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings following Saturday's meet.

USTFCCCA #EventSquad rankings places a rank order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes on the national descending-order list. A team must have four or more athletes with a valid season-best mark recorded with TFRRS to achieve a ranking in a particular event.

SANTA CLARA RESULTS

WOMEN'S 1,500-METER RUN (52 RUNNERS)

18. Maiya Fujiwara – 4:48.66 (PR)

21. Sasha Codiga – 4:51.00 (PR)

26. Sophia Morris – 4:56.35 (first collegiate 1,500)

28. Luciana Lenth – 4:57.78 (PR)

37. Gabi Wisnovsky – 5:04.73 (PR)

MEN'S 1,500-METER RUN (45 RUNNERS)

1. Jack Davidson – 3:55.69

6. Nicholas Russell – 3:59.77 (first collegiate 1,500)

WOMEN'S 400-METER DASH (20 RUNNERS)

11. Sophia Morris – 0:59.81 (first collegiate 1,500)

17. Elizabeth Elcik – 1:05.33 (first collegiate 1,500)

WOMEN'S 800-METER RUN (19 RUNNERS)

17. Elizabeth Elcik – 2:28.90 (PR)

MEN'S 800-METER RUN (22 RUNNERS)

3. Alex Scales – 1:49.86 (PR – program record, 21 west/34 NCAA)

13. Hayelom Fitsum – 1:58.41 (SCU track & field debut)

MEN'S 3,000-METER STEEPLECHASE (4 RUNNERS)

1. Zach Litoff – 8:54.90 (9 west/15 NCAA)

2. Harvey Chilcott – 9:04.37 (PR – 3^rd fastest SCU history, 17 west/32 NCAA)

3. Christian Raslowsky – 9:12.68 (PR – 5^th fastest SCU history, 26 west/51 NCAA)

WOMEN'S 5,000-METER RUN (44 RUNNERS)

8. Hayley Harrison – 17:26.21 (PR)

10. Kinsey Hall – 17:42.52 (PR)

11. Daniela Camacho – 17:46.84 (PR)

23. Hope Olbricht – 18:25.72 (PR)

26. Kayla Neumann – 18:31.73 (PR)

27. Hannah Aguirre – 18:36.59 (PR)

MEN'S 5,000-METER RUN (68 RUNNERS)

3. Spencer Fischer – 14:37.54 (PR – 9^th fastest SCU history, 90 west)

20. Ishaan Singh – 15:06.13 (first collegiate 5,000)

30. Dominic Baciocco – 15:21.08 (first collegiate 5,000)

MEN'S 10,000-METER RUN (5 RUNNERS)

1. Xander Olivero – 29:53.02 (PR – 2^nd fastest SCU history, 48 west/73 NCAA)

2. Drew Burns – 30:03.60 (first collegiate 10,000 – 3^rd fastest SCU history, 52 west/82 NCAA)

3. Ian Twyman – 30:05.51 (first collegiate 10,000 – 4^thfastest SCU history, 53 west/84 NCAA)

4. Kyle Johnson – 30:25.99 (PR – 6^th fastest SCU history, 60 west/99 NCAA)

NEXT UP

Santa Clara splits its squad for meets on April 17. The men return to Azusa Pacific for the Bryan Clay Invitational. The women head to Spokane, Washington for the Whitworth College-hosted Sam Adams Invitational.

CONNECT WITH THE BRONCOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA