Kaymarie Jones
The Paw Print
After disappointing results earlier in the evening, the ASU Grizzlies track and field team closed the first night of their last weekend in Albuquerque well, with a record-breaking performance from Boris Berian and a personal record from Quin Ralston.
Redshirt freshman and Colorado Springs native Berian raised the roof at the Albuquerque Convention Center on Friday night when he captured the men’s 600m and the collegiate record in 1.17.26. Berian is the 2012 Indoor and Outdoor NCAA National Champion and competes unattached for the 2013 season. Freshman Ralston of Colorado Springs, Colo. ran personal best in the men’s mile to move up to the sixteenth spot on the NCAA Division II national list. Ralston completed the mile in 4:17.09 and is the fifth Grizzly to qualify for the men’s mile.
The Grizzly men and women increased their velocity and stride frequency in general, wheeling in a few top times in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC). ASU junior Jacob Rider is making good use of his healthy track season, running faster each week. Rider raced his way to a first place finish in the men’s 800m in 1.53.08 seconds. His teammate Steve Lezama of Fort Worth, Tex. ran 1:56.54 and Martin Sanchez of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. finished in a time of 1.58.61.
In the men’s 5000m, three Grizzlies raced with a lot of push from other athletes. Jake Krolick, Stephen Emery and John Slater had to settle for tenth, eighteenth and twenty-fifth. Vivian Ochoa finished eighth in 19.37.10 in the women’s 5000m. In the women’s 800m run, the Grizzly women shaved a couple seconds off their performance at the Cherry and Silver Invitational. Tayler Warren of Evergreen, Colo. and her hometown teammate Maura O’Brien hustled their way to thirteenth and fourteenth place finishes in 2.21.02 and 2.21.06. Senior Kaymarie Jones ran a personal best and finished her four laps in 2.21.36.
Ackiesha Burnett was the beacon of the Saturday morning performances as she competed in the women’s 60m hurdles amongst the best NCAA Division I athletes from the western region. Burnett hurdled her way to a third place finish in 8.58 seconds, a time that will convert to 8.60 and move her up to ninth place on the NCAA national list. On the men’s side, Michael Geiger, Alex Jordan and Tyler Zito failed to advance to the finals. Their times of 8.47, 8.66 and 9.13 hold them in the second, fourth and ninth place spots on the RMAC performance list. Indoor freshman Jurgen Themen was ninth in running 6.95 in the men’s 60m and remains fourth on the RMAC list.
Sophomore Derek Brown competed in the men’s 400m once more, clocking 49.76 and finishing eleventh overall. Redshirt freshman Nathan Bolivar and freshman Tyler Zito clocked 52.65 and 52.62 respectively. All three athletes are in good standing on the RMAC list. Megan Hannafious clocked 59.66 in the women’s 400m. Junior Kelli Williams and senior Brooke Dudley stopped the clock at 1.04.02 and 1.08.69.
Alamosa hometown girl Katie Kruger continued to hit provisional marks in the throws. On Saturday, Kruger finished sixth with a distance of 15.85 meters in the women’s weight throw and 14.00 meters in the shotput. Angelica Payton of San Diego, Calif. threw a distance of 12.23 meters. Wesley Lavong finished fourth with 14.87 in the men’s shotput. Joel Osborn and Zack Baxter were fifth and sixth with distances of 14.32 and 14.31 meters.
In the heat of the high jump, Justin Bethea and Dyson Mortenan cleared two meters even and in the triple jump, Carlton Lavong leaped to 14.68 meters. Alex Estes covered 6.55 meters in the men’s long jump.
The Grizzlies will give up the banked Albuquerque track and fly to Seattle, WA, to compete on the University of Washington 300m flat track against top athletes in the Pac 12 Division I conference, starting on Friday, February 8.
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