MOSCOW, Idaho -- The Bakersfield women's indoor track and field team closed out the final day of the WAC Indoor Championships on Friday.
Freshman middle distance runner Ariana Mariscal (Bakersfield, Calif., North HS) highlighted the day for the 'Runners, placing third in the 800m finals. The Bakersfield native's time of 2:15.37 landed her on the podium and earned Mariscal a spot in the CSUB all-time top 10 for the women's 800m race.
"Ariana did great in the 800m," said Bakersfield Director of Track and Field Marcia Mansur-Wentworth. "Her performance gave us the first All-Conference honor in Division I program history." The third place finish also earned Bakersfield six points towards the overall team total.
The women's 4 x 400m final closed out the day as Bakersfield's team of Marina Emhoff (RFr., Bakersfield, Calif., North HS), Mariscal, Megan Thompson (RJr., Fellows, Calif., Taft Union HS), and Alyssa Page (Jr., Santa Rosa, Calif., Montgomery HS) took to the track in the first of two finals heats.
Emhoff led off the first leg of the race and handed off the baton to Mariscal in second place. Mariscal closed a big gap on the leader, UTPA, then passed off to Thompson for the third leg. UTPA opened a big gap between first and second while Seattle University began to hunt down the 'Runners as Thompson passed the baton to Page. As Bakersfield's fastest 400m runner, Page was able to hold off Seattle's anchor for the 2nd place finish in the first finals heat with a time of 3:53.33.
After the second heat, the 'Runners relay team ended up with a sixth place finish overall and two more points for the team total. The 3:53.33 finish is already faster than Bakersfield's best 4 x 400m relay time from 2013 (3:55.30).
Audrena Harlan (So., Antioch, Calif., Dozier-Libbey Medical HS) finished the long jump with a leap of 16-01.00 and 9th place overall. Fellow jumper Erica Hawkins (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif., Shafter HS) placed 18th in the high jump, reaching a height of 4-09.00.
CSUB finished the WAC Indoor Championships in ninth place out of nine team with 10 points. Grand Canyon claimed the women's overall title with 166.5 points while the host Idaho squad claimed the championship on the men's side with 157 points.
Bakersfield's women return to the track to start the outdoor season alongside the men's team next weekend. Both squads will travel to Los Angeles, Calif. to compete at the Cal State LA Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 7th and 8th.
~www.GoRunners.com~
