Turlock, Calif. - The 2015 Pacific Track and Field season officially kicked off on Saturday afternoon at the Kim Duyst Invitational on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus. Pacific runners competed in a variety of disciplines, with personal and school records falling in many events, including the 1500m event, in which Mia Knipper (Morada, Calif.) posted a school record time.
In the 100m dash, sophomore Ebony Ezeji (Stockton, Calif.) led all Tiger entrants with a 27th place finish and a time of 13.40, just off her personal record pace. Freshman Jessica Fogel (Northridge, Calif.) followed with a time of 14.34, establishing her collegiate best in her first track event. Freshman Taylor Ayers (Castaic, Calif.) finished the Pacific contingent with a time of 14.34 in the event.
Matti Long (Sandy, Utah) and Sandra Padilla (San Jose, Calif.) raced for the Tigers in the 200m, finishing in 28.36 and 29.27, respectively. Padilla was the lone Pacific entrant in the 400m, finishing in 65.20, establishing a new personal record while falling short of the school record set by Ashley Keeline in 2013 (64.69) '
The 4x100 meter relay team of Padilla, Long, Fogel and Ezeji finished in 10th, with a time of 52:83.
In the 800m event, senior Sarah Bailey (Vernon, B.C., Canada) finished 13th overall in a time of 2:22.72, a new personal record in the distance. The finish was just .24 seconds from the school record of 2:22.48 set by Knipper at the Bulldog Invitational last April. Knipper and Lauren Nakaso (San Ramon, Calif.) weren't far behind, finishing in 2:23.68 and 2:23.70, respectively. Nakaso's time represented a new personal best in the distance.
The 1500m saw a sixth place finish for Knipper, who crossed in 4:47.63, a new program record in the distance. Bailey finished in 10th with a time of 4:52.94, a personal best at Pacific. Nakaso finished in 21st with a personal-best time of 5:03.16 while sophomore Myra Lakdawala (Karachi, Pakistan) finished in 34th with a personal-best 5:18.11. Senior Micaela Todd (Mill Creek, Wash.) (5:53.69) and junior Jessica Guerra (Stockton, Calif.) (5:57.17) finished in 46th and 47th to round out the group of Tigers in the event.
In the distance event, junior Lindsay Wourms (Camas, Wash.) took sixth place in the 5000m, finishing in a time of 18:17.89, a new personal record in the track event and the second-best time in program history. Junior Becky Grabow (Carson City, Nev.) finished 16th, with a time of 18:47.12 while junior Grace McManus (Apple Valley, Calif.) finished in 30th, crossing in 19:54.82. Freshman Megan Murphy (Santa Maria, Calif.) crossed in 23:48.04 at her first collegiate track meet.
Head Coach Josh Jones said following the race, "The Ladies ran great today. We had plans on how we wanted to run each race and the team executed them to a T. We ran on tired legs in the 800m and 1500m, and we had runners PR and set a school record."
He continued, "I couldn't be more happy where we are at right now as a group. The sprinters had a strong showing and even though our 5K runners weren't running all out they ran very good times for taking it easy. I'm excited for the rest of the season."
Following a weekend off, Pacific will be back on the track on March 21st at the Johnny Mathis Invitational hosted by San Francisco State.
