Track and field shows out in first conference meet
Courtesy of Larry Newman
The men’s and women’s track teams both placed first overall in their March 7 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SCIAC) Quad Cup meet, with 212 and 273 points, respectively, combining for 485 in total.
Out of 38 total events, Chapman was awarded 20 first-place finishes, with the men contributing to seven and the women to 13. Last season, the men’s team fell short and placed second with 195 points, and the women’s team recorded a first-place finish with 255 points.
On the men’s side, senior environmental science and policy major Mason Fara captured victories in the 200-meter race with a time of 22.04 seconds and the 400-meter race with 48 seconds.
He also contributed to the first-place win in the 4x100-meter relay race that recorded 41.85 seconds. Alongside Fara in the relay win were freshman accounting major Collin Woodruff, freshman film production major Charley McCarthy and junior business administration major Wyn Smoole.
“When we come into the season and start competing, I always kind of have to change my mentality about things,” Fara said. “It's not just fun practice every day with my friends. It's kind of calculated races, competition, wanting to perform, wanting to push my teammates around me. It just takes a while to get used to that competitive atmosphere again.”
Senior psychology and sociology major Makenna Lizarde recorded multiple wins for the women’s team as well. With a time of 12.45 seconds in the 100-meter and 25.57 seconds in the 200-meter, Lizarde earned wins in both events.
She also competed in the 4x100-meter relay with sophomore health sciences major Cailin Thompson, junior biological sciences major Sarah Charles and sophomore business major Audrey Helwig to capture another victory.
“I think trying to motivate the other girls has been a priority of mine and just kind of getting everyone on the same page, because in training you're working with little groups,” Lizarde said. “So I might run with like four or five girls and typically, those are the girls on my relay teams as well. So if I can push them in practice, I know that we're going to be in a much better place for our competitions.”
Out on the field, sophomore screen acting major Eva Ndoye also claimed first-place finishes in two events. Her 11.46-meter throw earned her a first-place finish in shot put and her 36.33-meter throw sealed her victory for the javelin event.
After an all-around impressive meet for the Panthers, they look to carry the momentum into the next competition. Chapman will advance to the second leg of the SCIAC Quad Cup that will be held on March 28 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps against Redlands, Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
To view the full meet results, click here.