TRACK ‘amp; FIELD ‘mdash; Even though she had to deal with Los Angeles heat and smog, Bre Schofield stepped up to the line ready to run. By the end of the long 1,500-meter race, she had the fastest women’s time in UCSD history.
‘Conditions were pretty bad,’ the sophomore said. ‘I was working on not focusing on it, telling myself it’s not hot. When you race, a lot of things come into your head. But when the gun goes off, I feel more in control.’
Competing in the Long Beach Invitational held at Cerritos College, the Triton track and field team sent a smaller squad in preparation for future races. But, the meet was not without highlights, and Schofield’s record-breaking performance was the most prominent. Schofield set the record with a time of 4:29.67, which is also an automatic NCAA qualifier.
‘When I saw it was the fastest I’ve ever run the 1,500, I was really excited,’ Schofield said. ‘Breaking 4:30 has been my goal for the entire year. When I found out I broke the school record it just made it all the better.’
In the same race, senior Ashleigh Montgomory ran a time 4:40.42, good for ninth all-time in school history. Sophomore Deyna Roberson posted a time of 63.69 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles, also good for ninth all-time. In the 100-meter dash, senior Katie Skorupa won her heat with a time of 12.29 seconds, setting a personal record and moving her to fourth all-time.
On the men’s side, junior Casey Ryan placed second in the high jump with a mark of 6’8.75′. Ryan also had a strong showing in the javelin throw, finishing 12th with a distance of 170 feet.
Schofield was not alone in setting school records. Earlier in the week at the Azusa/Mt. San Antonio College Heptathlon, junior Linda Rainwater broke her own school record with a score of 5,140 points. Rainwater was last year’s California Collegiate Athletic Association champion in the heptathlon.
‘A 5,000 point heptathlon for a college athlete is pretty exceptional, and she just keeps pouring it on,’ head coach Tony Salerno said.
Sophomore Stephanie LeFever also competed in the event, scoring 4,829 points to earn an automatic NCAA bid. LeFever finished fourth in the conference last season.
UCSD is entering the final stretch of its season, with the Triton Invitational on April 24 and conference championships a week after that.
‘We have a very tough conference, one of the toughest in the nation in Division II,’ Salerno said. ‘We have to be on the ball and maximize points wherever we can.’
Schofield also emphasized the team aspect heading into conference championships.
‘When you get into the championship phases, it’s about winning and getting points for your team and working together,’ Schofield said. ‘We’ve won for the past four years and we have confidence that we can win again.’
The Tritons will be in action this weekend in their final home meet of the season, the Triton Invitational, before the conference championships.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Readers can contact Liam Rose at [email protected].