Kaymarie Jones
The Paw Print
Kaymarie Jones
The Paw Print
A fraction of the Grizzly track and field team flew into Seattle on Thursday, February 6, for one of the most exciting track competitions of the indoor season. Hosted by the University of Washington, the Husky Classics produced many elite athletes such as Charles Jock and the 2012 Olympic Women’s Long Jump Champion Brittney Reese. Several other prominent Division 1 athletes from the western region like Oregon, California State and Cal State Fullerton were also at the meet.
On Friday, only a handful of Grizzles touched the purple Husky track but all other Grizzlies showed up on Saturday wearing their green uniforms. Ackiesha Burnett, from Spanish Town, Jamaica, was the first Grizzly to compete on Saturday morning. Burnett clocked 8.76 in the women’s 60m hurdles final and finished tenth overall. Freshman Carlton Lavong, Philadelphia Penn., took a third place finish in the men’s long jump, jumping a distance of 6.97 meters. He also returned on Saturday for the men’s triple jump and finished second with 15.03 meters. Lavong is sixth in the triple jump and ties for fourteenth in the long jump on the NCAA national list. Freshman Chaz Butler was the only win for the Grizzlies on Saturday. Butler defeated all divisions at the meet, finishing in 6.79 seconds, and remains seventh on the list.
The women’s 5000 meters was swarmed with distance runners from UC Riverside, Cal State LA, BYU, and many other top Division I schools from the Pac12 conference. Leading the Grizzlies’ overall top finishes was Alamosa local Lauren Martin, in 16.47.87, which is another qualifying time. Kelly Lamb of Creede, Colo. wormed her way through the pack to finish second in 16.52.45. Lamb’s time puts her in ninth on the list. In the invite section, Kristen McGlynn-Arendt of Bailey Colo., ran 16.53.63 and is sitting in tenth place. Also in the mix was Jessie Brunett, Honeoye Falls, N.Y., ran a personal best time of 17.07.72 to round off the Grizzlies’ NCAA provisional performances in the women’s 5000 meters. Brunett is now ranked sixteenth.
With the top two automatic qualifying times coming from Tabor Stevens and Kevin Batt in the men’s 3000 meters, the Adams State distance team is ready to add another RMAC and NCAA title to their list of accomplishments. Although both athletes competed in separate races, their times were very close. Stevens finished in 7.57.56 and Batt finished in 7.57.62. Both men had already qualified for the men’s 5000 meters. Picking up from Stevens and Batt’s 5000, David Sanchez from Farmersville, Calif. raced to a third place finish in 14.02.98, which is a NCAA division II automatic qualifying time. Jovanny Godinez of Pacoima, Calif., clocked 14.27.54, and finished eighth in section three of four. Andrew Roberts from Boulder, Colo. was also in Godinez’s heat, but finished at 14.40.57. Godinez and Roberts are ranked sixteenth and twenty-fourth respectively. In the men’s mile, Matt Daniels improved on his time, running 4.02.91, and moving up to third on the national list.
Alicia Nelson had to fight in the women’s 3000 meters, a race that is roughly five laps more than she’s used to. Nelson now leads the nation with her time of 9.32.36. In the women’s shotput, Katie Kruger ties for fifteenth on the national list with her throw of 14.10 meters, a great improvement from her last throw in Albuquerque. Joe Hochanadel had a rough time in the ring and could only throw 16.33 meters in the men’s weight throw. Jamaican sprinters Kaymarie Jones and Kayon Robinson hit provisional marks after finishing third and fourth in the women’s 400m invite. Jones and Robinson clocked 55.24 and 55.47 seconds on Saturday and are now positioned in seventh and tenth on the NCAA national list.
Coming up next weekend, the Grizzlies will tackle the RMAC schools at the Joe Davies Open, hosted by Colorado Mines, in Golden, Colo.
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