RENO, Nevada & BOSTON, Mass. — In their first indoor track meet of the season, the Cougars dominated, securing 12 national provisional marks over the weekend, seven of which came on Saturday alone. Four of those marks came on day three of the Silver State Invitational in Nevada, while the distance squad went a perfect three-for-three at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, hosted by Boston University.
WOMEN
After a personal best in the weight throw yesterday,
Hannah Richardson delivered another career-best performance in the shot put, throwing 15.78m (51'9¾"). Her mark earned second place overall at the Silver State Invite and moved her to the top of the national qualifying list. By improving upon her previous best throw of 51'0" this spring, Richardson also climbed to second place on the school's all-time list, with the best throw since 2003.
In the 400m dash in Nevada,
Alayna Verner posted a time of 54.17, which currently ranks No. 1 in Division II. She surpassed the national qualifying mark by over two seconds. Verner had already qualified for Indoor Nationals, having run a 24.37 in the 200m dash yesterday, which ranks ninth nationally.
Olivia Alexandre earned her second provisional mark of the weekend after claiming the top time in the 800m just the day before. On Saturday, she ran a time of 56.15 in the 400m time which is currently the ninth-fastest time in the nation.
Meanwhile, just two weeks after earning All-American honors at the DII NCAA Cross Country Championships, Jessica (Kampman) Walczak returned to action, earning a provisional mark in the 3k with a time of 9:39.84. Her performance in Boston ranks eighth in the nation and is also the fourth-fastest time in program history.
MEN
Prior to Saturday, the men's team had earned just two provisional marks, thanks to
Dejuan Walcott's long jump performance and
Lincoln Krog's first-place finish in the heptathlon. However, the Cougars finished the weekend on a high note, adding three more provisional marks.
On the West Coast, Maxime Wassmer won the 400m dash outright with a time of 47.61. His performance currently ranks third in the nation and 11th on Azusa Pacific's all-time list.
Meanwhile, in Boston, the distance squad, fresh off NCAA's just two weeks ago, took care of business.
Felix Perrier set a school record in the 3k with a time of 8:03.57, currently the ninth-fastest in the nation. His teammate,
Jared Wright, followed closely behind, finishing with a national qualifying time of 8:09.56. Wright's performance ranks third all-time in program history and 14th in the nation.
Up Next: After the successful trips to Reno and Boston, Azusa Pacific will take a month and a half break for the holidays before returning to action on January 23rd, when they will travel back to Reno to compete at the Nevada Invitational and Multis.
