University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Track and field qualifies five for Big Sky Championship at Tom Benich Invite
4/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field, Track & Field
Katie Mucci
UNCBears.com
GREELEY -- Northern Colorado's track and field team returned to Butler-Hancock this weekend to host the Tom Benich Invitational, where five Bears qualified for the Big Sky Conference Championships in May and five new top-ten times.
Starting the day off in the 4x100m relay, the men's (Isaiah Grady, Alex Mead, Andy Kemmer, Chris Sterling) and women's (Alisha Allen, Amoni Ashby, Amber Solomon, Mackenzie Comstock) teams both took second place with times of 41.21 seconds and 47.43 seconds, respectively.
Rikki Gonzales (Aurora, Colo.) took the title in the women's 1500 meter run with a time of 4:40.64. Ashley Atkin (Fleming, Colo.), Caroline Braun (Denver) and Stephanie Clark (Windsor, Colo.) finished behind Gonzales in fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively. Gonzales also finished second in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:18.89.
In the 100 meter hurdles, Ashby (Aurora, Colo.) and Solomon (St. Louis, Mo.) took second and third place, marking times of 13.89 and 14.24 seconds, respectively. These times both qualify for the Big Sky Conference Championship. Ashby's time is one-hundredth of a second behind the fastest time in UNC school history and improves her previous second-best time by four-hundredths. Solomon's time marks the fifth best time in school history.
Susan Meinders (Dalton, Ga.) took fourth in the women's 400 meter hurdles, recording a time of 1:02.21. Meinders has already qualified for the Big Sky in the event and two more Bears were added to that list, Solomon and Ashby, coming in sixth (1:03.55) and seventh place (1:03.56), respectively. Meinders' time marks the fifth best time in school history, after previously holding the ninth best time.
Zoie Hoben (Westminster, Colo.) came in second place in the pole vault, marking a height of 3.30 meters. In the women's long jump, Whitney Jackson (Grand Junction, Colo.) took second place with a distance of 5.89 meters and Mackenzie Comstock (Lakewood, Colo.) was right behind in third place recording a 5.61 meters.
On the men's side, Jordan Medina (Aurora, Colo.) took first place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 48.01 seconds. Medina has previously qualified for the Big Sky in this event. Brennan Stine (Loveland, Colo.) finished in fifth place, recording a time of 49.55 seconds. In the 800 meter run, Jimmy Sablan (Aurora, Colo.) took second place, marking a time of 1:55.85.
Trevor Evanson (Golden, Colo.) placed second in the high jump, marking a height of 1.98 meters. Alec Rupe (Grand Junction, Colo.) recorded a distance of 7.21 meters in the men's long jump, to take second place in the event, the 10th best in school history.
In the last events of the day, the 4x400m relay, the men's (Grady, Andy Kemmer, Sterling, Medina) and women's (Allen, Samantha Strempke, Ashley Atkin, Meinders) team took first and fourth, respectively.
Addendum
On Saturday, the Bears competed in the second part of the Tom Benich Invitational hosted by Colorado State.
Courtney Wilkerson was the top finisher for the women in the hammer throw, taking 10th place and recording a distance of 45.33 meters. Behind her was Molly Potter with a mark of 44.17 meters. The Bears final competitor was Jacqueline Palizzi who finished in 16th place with a distance of 35.86 meters.
On the men's side, Mark Swigart competed in the shotput, recording a distance of 12.49 meters for eighth place.
Two Bears competed in the discus throw, Kazim Mekhraliyev and Larry Johnson. Mekhraliyev placed eighth with a mark of 44.82 meters, while Johnson recorded 40.54 meters for 12th place.
In the last event of the Invitational, Mekhraliyev and Johnson paired up again to finish 11th and 12th, respectively, in the hammer throw. Mekhraliyev recorded a throw of 39.49 meters and Johnson marked 33.45 meters for the Bears.
The Bears will head to the Nebraska Quad in Lincoln, Neb. April 11 for their next competition.
Players Mentioned
