Track Team Sets Records at All-Comers Meet
By Joanne Sheng
Staff Writer

With gray clouds looming overhead, the Pomona-Pitzer All Comers invitational marked the first track meet. Both the men and women's overall performances were not particularly strong - a common experience of any sports team early in the season. Despite this, both teams performed exceptionally well in several key events.

The women were strongly represented by Kristina Bajema '06, who set an all time Pomona-Pitzer record in the high jump with a soaring leap of 5'2." Another record was made in the javelin by Alexandra Wakeman '06, with a final throw of 111'5".

More records were set for the Sagehens by two teams in the Distance Medley Relay, an event featuring legs of 1200,400, 800, and 1600 meters. Laura Bishop '03, Stefanie McDougall '04, Ann Prouty '05, and Bajema led the Hens to an amazing final time of 13:25.08 - a time placing them as the third fastest DMR team in Pomona-Pitzer history. Following this mark with an overall time of 13:45.57 was the team of Madeline Mundt '03, Susie Roley '03, Izzy Smith '05, and Amy Rapp '06. Their notable time placed them seventh in the Pomona record books.

Women's coach Kirk Reynolds observed, "As a whole the meet was too relaxed, running times were not where they needed to be, but the field eventers had a better day. I'm optimistic that our runners will drop time after they get used to having meets every Saturday."

On track for the men's team were Crosby Freeman '06 and David Moss '06. Freeman ran a remarkable 8:55.00 in the 3000 meter race while teammate Moss dashed through the half mile in 1:58 flat. Another notable performance included Joey Cappola '05 bounding through the intermediate hurdles with a time of 58.00.

Men's coach Pat Mulcahy remarked that, unlike the women's team, the men were "thin in the field events, but stronger in the running." Excellent marks were made in a couple field events however by Matt Zay '04 and Mark Melief '05. Zay scored in the triple jump with a distance of 42'10". Melief placed the Sagehens fifth in the high jump with a personal record of 6'2".

Participating teams included UC Irvine, UCSD, Redlands, CLU, Rio Hondo, Concordia, Westmont, Whittier, La Verne, and CMS. Many of these teams regularly compete in Division II and easily outmatched Pomona-Pitzer. Points were not documented and instead the emphasis was on the actual quality of each performance.

"The All Comers meet acts as a bar for the athletes," commented sprint coach Natashia Harris '98, "it's great because it's low-pressure and it lets them get an idea of where they are and where they need to be."

Both teams will have another chance to work out their kinks at the Whittier All Comers meet on Saturday, February 22 before their first conference meet at home against La Verne, Whittier, and Cal Tech.