ASC Track Team Shows Continued Improvement at CU Meet

Kristen McGlynn
The Paw Print

On Saturday, April 10, the ASC men and women traveled to Boulder to compete in the University of Colorado Invitational held at Potts Field.

Relieved by the slightly warmer and less windy weather at CU, the Grizzlies proceeded to turn in several wins and national qualifying marks. 

Indira Spence led the women with two first place finishes. Spence won the 200-meters with a time of 24.05 seconds which provisionally qualifies her for the national meet as well as ranks her sixth on the Division II outdoor performance list. Spence also won her specialty, the 100-meter hurdles, in a dominating time of 13.39, an automatic qualifying mark which now ranks Spence second on the national performance list for Division II.

Sofia Monroe turned in another win for the Grizzlies, finishing first in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:41.

Teammate Alicia Nelson took fifth in the 800-meters running 2:14 which is a provisional qualifying mark.

Cassie Mitchell took seventh behind Nelson with a time of 2:15.

In other running events of the day, Jessica Adams placed seventh in the 400-meters, running 59.62. 

Lindsey Grasmick finished a close second in the 400-meter hurdles with at time of 1:02.  The 4×400-meter relay team of Grasmick, Adams, Spence, and Nelson was barely out-leaned by UNC who won the race in a time of 3:51.38. The Grizzly women clocked a close 3:51.76 for second.

In the field events, ASC athlete Katie Kruger, competing unattached, won with a throw of 44 feet  5 inches while teammates Tamara Fowler took third (41 ft. 8 in.) and  Jenna Bohnen finished seventh (40 ft. 7 in.) Bohnen returned in the discus with her best finish of the day, placing third with a throw of 150 ft. 9 in. a provisional qualifying mark. She also placed eleventh in the hammer throw with a toss of 145 ft. 1 in. In the javelin, Fowler threw 117 ft. 10 in. for a fifth place finish.

With a conspicuously absent distance crew, the Grizzly men looked to their field events to lead their diminished squad. On the men’s side, the top performance of the day came from junior Blair Sohl who won the pole vault with a mark of 14 feet 1 inch. Teammate Codie White finished fifth in the vault clearing 13 ft. 5 in.

In the long jump, Jason Mannerberg was third with a mark of 22 feet. Jordan Bolich was able to clear 6 ft. 3 in. in the high jump to tie for eighth place.

Daniel Maldonado led the throws group with a fourth place finish in the shot put with a toss of 51 ft. 8 in. Teammate Miquel Narez took fifth place (50 ft. 4 in.) Maldonado returned in the discus to place sixth (157 ft.) and also earned a sixth place finish in the hammer throw with a mark of 172 ft. 8 in. Jake Santerre took eight in the event (170 ft. 6 in.)

In the running events, Joseph Jallow ran 51.40 seconds to finish fourth in the 400-meter run. Pierce Fair took sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.57.

Michael Flowers, as the sole distance runner, took fourth in the 3000-meter steeple with a time of 10 minutes 10 seconds.

Next weekend the Grizzlies will be splitting their team and sending a group of elite competitors to the Mt. SAC relays in California held April 15-17 while the rest of the team will be traveling to the CSU-Pueblo Invitational on April 17.