With the track-and-field season winding down, the Tritons played host at the Triton Track and Field Invitational this past weekend. More than 1,300 athletes competed at the invitational, a two-day meet held on campus. The competitors ranged from local San Diego State Aztecs to independent athletes from Great Britain and Bermuda.
Quantum leap:
For the men, junior Mike Cunningham won the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 52.20 seconds, beating the Cal Poly Pomona second-place finisher by 0.73 seconds. Cunningham was just 0.13 seconds off his personal best and school-record-holding time of 52.07.
Junior Carl Lostrom won the 5000-meter event with a time of 14 minutes, 37.91 seconds, the fourth-best time in school history. Lostrom outran his competition, finishing less than half a second before the second-place finisher.
Junior Chris Ferrier took sixth place in the 1500 with his time of 3:58.67. There were 46 competitors in the event. Senior Kevin Beeman took third place in the pole vault with a jump of 2.05 meters.
The men’s 4-by-400 relay team of junior Matt Borzage, freshman Todd Bettisworth, junior Jon Patton and Cunnningham also had a standout performance, finishing in second place with a time of 3:15.10. They finished less than two seconds behind the Central Arizona College team, which crossed the finish line in 3:13.69.
For the women, junior Briana Hinga finished second in the javelin throw with her mark of 123 feet, 3 inches. Senior Katie Hogan set a new personal record in the same event with her throw of 115-9. Hogan’s throw was good enough to earn fourth place in the competition.
Sophomore Elisa Holiday ran a 25.17 in the 200 dash, less than one second off her personal record. She finished 11th out of 47 competitors.
Junior Mimi Hodgins’ time of 2:11.73 in the 800 race was good enough for a fifth-place finish at the meet. Also in the 800, freshman Diane Dunn crossed the line in 2:15.96 and junior Gina Merchant finished in 2:16.12; Dunn and Merchant finished 14th and 15th, respectively, of 58 competitors.
Senior Lindsay Stalker and junior Nina Miller each achieved fourth-place finishes in the 1500 and 3000 runs, respectively. Freshman Laiah Blue ran a 14.52 in the 100 hurdles and a 62.89 in the 400 hurdles, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Holiday’s jump of 18-5 1/4 in the long jump earned her third place. Freshman Whitney Johnson jumped 18-1/4 and finished fourth. Johnson went on to take second in the triple jump with her mark of 38-9 1/2.
The Tritons have only a few meets remaining this season. They will next compete at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, which will be held May 6 and May 7 in Chico, Calif.
The Claremont Classic will follow on May 14, and NCAA qualifiers will compete at the NCAA Championships May 26 through May 28.
