POMONA, Calif. - The Thunderbird track and field teams spent Saturday in the state of California, competing at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational.

Men's Results

Justin Lewis, who has returned to the team after redshirting the indoor season, was the top performer at the meet in the men's 400-meter dash. He ran it in a 47.57, which no other athlete was able to top.

Lewis also finished in fourth in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 21.53.  

SUU assistant coach Brent Springall said he is very impressed by what Lewis has been able to do since returning to competition.

“Justin is in a really good place right now, where he basically started the season right where he left off last season,” he said. “He's picking up right where he left off, and we should see some big things from him.”

Sophomore Devon Montgomery set the fastest collegiate time in the 110-meter hurdles, running a 14.54. That mark is his fastest of the season, and placed him second overall at the meet.

Three different Thunderbirds won their heat in the 1,500-meter, as Bryan Espino, Eric Sandall and Sage Ducote all were the top in their specific section. Espino set a personal best of 3:57.97, which was the fastest time a T-Bird hit in the event. Kyle Warrick and Brady Olsen hit 3:59.66 and 3:59.77 respectively in the same event.

Espino also had a solid showing in the 800-meter, setting the 13th fastest time with a 1:53.64.

In the men's 100-meter dash, Novell Reid set a season best and tied his personal best with a 11.10.

Michael Finch set a personal best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing in 9:32.98.

Nico Fonzi was able to win his heat of the pole vault, and finished sixth overall with a jump of 14' 3 ¼''.

Cannon Brunsvik had a solid showing in the discus throw, with a mark of 136' 11''.

Women's Results

The Thunderbird women's team had several fast times and solid marks, with several members of the team setting their best ever.

Linnea Saltz ran a 2:13.30 in the 800-meter and a 25.53 in the 200-meter to set a new top mark on both.

In the women's 100-meter dash Peyton Green and Mia Russell both hit a 12.42. That was a personal best for Russell, as the duo placed in 11th.

Russell set a personal best in the 200-meter dash as well with a 24.98. China Simmons and Carly Dalton both set new personal bests in the 200-meter dash as well.

China Simmons ran the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 14.74, which put her in sixth place overall at the meet. Teammate Carly Dalton wasn't too far behind in 10th place, with a 15.05.

Laura Kehr set a season best in the 400-meter, with a time of 58.73.

Samantha Twitchell (65.11) and Madison Cook (65.21) finished in ninth and 10th in the 400-meter hurdles respectively.

In the 1,500-meter Maddy Kauffman set the fastest time with a 4:43.07. Julieta Navarrete-Lamas was able to win her heat and set a new personal best with a 4:49.80. Not to be outdone, Brighton Glassman and Julia Mahlke both set personal bests in the meet as well.

SUU assistant coach Paul Limpf said he though the distance team had a very solid performance as a group on Saturday.

“After a hard week of work we went in with expectations of putting up a solid effort this weekend, and to come out with a lot of PR's and season bests is always a nice to end the weekend and gets us ready for next week,” he said.

Kauffman also had a personal best in the 800-meter, with a time of 2:19.47.  

Sydnie Rich had the fourth best javelin throw in the field, with a mark of 126' 2''.

Morgan Vorwaller was third in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, with a time of 11:18.65.

Moving Forward

Next week will be a busy one for the Thunderbirds, as they will be splitting up between three different meets in California.

They will be competing at the Bryan Clay Invitational, the Mt. SAC Relays and the Long Beach Invitational.

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