Paul Pizza
The Paw Print
Head Coach Damon Martin has started something rare in college sports, that is starting a dynasty. Both the men and women’s track teams are currently ranked fifth in the nation after the second coaches’ poll of the season. The men’s squad came in ranked eighth in the nation after winning the Indoor National Championship last year, while the women were ranked fifth for two consecutive weeks following a fifth place finish at the national meet last year.
The Grizzlies took a quick trip south to Albuquerque on January 28-29 for the University of New Mexico Invitational. On day one of the meet, the headlining story was about twin brothers, Jordan and Devin Bolich, who had a 3, 4 finish in the high jump. J. Bolich had a high jump of 1.99 meters, which is just 5/100ths of a meter from the NCAA Championships provisional qualifying standard. Brother Devin had a jump of 1.94 meters, also close to the NCAA qualifying standards.
Two freshman, Justin Smit and Estevan Vigil led ASC on the track. Smit finished fourteenth overall in the 200 meter, with a time of 22.51, while Vigil finish seventeenth with a time of 22.90.
Day two was an even better day for the Grizzlies,as Junior Calvin Fletcher and Senior Blair Sohl had great days, both having close encounters with the NCAA Championship qualifying marks. Fletcher finished with a time of 48.84 and in sixth place overall. He was .01 seconds under the NCAA qualifying mark. Sohl on the other hand was .03 meters shy of qualifying in the pole vault. Sohl did however finish in seventh place.
Another great finisher for the men, was Carlton Lavong. Although competing unattached, Lavong finished second in the long jump with a jump of 7.52 meters. Lavong also had a great showing in the triple jump, finishing fourth with a jump of 15 meters flat.
Junior Pierce Fair finished close behind, in seventh, with a jump of 13.83 meters.
As for day one of the women’s events, Indira Spence made an instant impact for the Grizzles as she dominated the 200 meter dash, finishing in a time of 24.17. Spence automatically qualified in the 200 meters for the outing.
Freshman Amber Lowther had a good outing in the high jump, finishing sixteenth with a jump of 1.53 meters, matching her season best.
On day two, Spence and two other Grizz competitors met more qualifying standards. Spence also qualified for the 60 meter hurdles, as she finished the race in 8.62 seconds.
Sophomore Katie Kruger finished sixth in the shot put, beating the qualifying mark by 3 inches. Cassie Mitchell ran a sea-level adjusted time of 4:58.58 in the mile race, 3.42 seconds under the NCAA qualifying time.
With the NCAA Championships just over a month away, both men and women teams are looking to follow up on last year’s success. Adams State will host the NCAA Division 2 Championships on March 11-12 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
What’s Been Said…