AZUSA, Calif. - After a long season of competing and preparing, the Golden Eagles packed their gear to take on conference opponents at Azusa Pacific for the PacWest conference meet. A handful of Golden Eagles are still chasing national provisional marks or looking to improve their national rankings, mainly chasing a long-desired conference title against some of the nation's best track & field teams.
Starting the day and setting the mood high for the green & gold were
Sarah Fajer and
Khaiya Simpson, who both secured podium spots in the Hammer event. Fajer threw for a school-record mark of 49.25m on her second attempt, securing the top place in the event. At the same time, Simpson earned the second-place spot with a mark of 45.30m.
Fajer competed in her favored shot put event on Saturday and did not disappoint. Fajer threw for a 13.84m mark on her second throw, breaking the meet record by 4 centimeters! Fajer is still chasing a greater Provo mark but notching a meet record and second shot put conference gold medal in back-to-back years.
Dylan Fox highlighted the day on Friday with an outstanding performance in the Long Jump. Extending his school record to an impressive 7.55m, simultaneously breaking the previous meet record by a single centimeter! This pushes his national ranking higher and gives him a higher chance of securing a spot at the national meet in late May.
A fellow jumper who earned himself a school record was
Gabe Jones. In the triple jump, Jones leaped for a 14.59m mark and put his name in the history books for the Golden Eagles program.
Maddie Jahshan ran an impressive 10,000m event, earning another national provisional mark time of 35:51, finishing second in the event as the solo Golden Eagle.
Veteran
Jori Paradis was a strong competitor in her final PacWest conference meet, qualifying for the finals in the 1500m run on Friday. On Saturday, Paradis had a similar result in the finals for the event, finishing second with a time of 4:29, earning a national provisional mark.
Later that day, Paradis took home a gold medal finish in the 5000m, with a time of 17:23.74. Her final kick at the end of the stretch put her ahead of the trailing ART U runner by mere milliseconds. Teammates Eismann and Jahshan finished just behind her in fourth and fifth, putting all three Golden Eagles in strong scoring positions.
On Saturday,
Porshe Eismann showcased precisely how strong she has been performing this season with an extraordinary 800m race. Spectacularly, Eismann crossed the finish line in first place, setting a new meet record of 2:08.75 and a national provisional mark. She currently sits at 8th in the nation with her record-setting performance.
In the 400m hurdle,
Maria Sartin took home the second-place finish with a time of 1:01.32, just shy of beating out the first-place runner from APU. Her time helped collect a national Provo mark of her own.
Hunter Hornaday and
Ryan Santana both had strong efforts in the shot put on Saturday, finishing third and fourth, respectively.
At the end of the weekend and with all events completed, the Concordia University Irvine women's track & field team was crowned the third-place team at the PacWest championships, with the men finishing fourth for the second year in a row.
It was an amazing day for the entire program, and many athletes made impressive leaps forward. The whole team showed strength and a competitive spirit, with a majority of the Golden Eagles qualifying for their event finals in one of the strongest conferences in DII.
CLICK HERE for the final results from the weekend at APU.
