SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.-- The Bakersfield track and field teams headed to the Central Coast to compete at the Cal Poly Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Women
The Roadrunner women performed well as the crew was headlined by its sprinters. Alyssa Page (Jr., Santa Rosa, Calif., Montgomery HS) and Marina Emhoff (RFr., Bakersfield, Calif., North HS) both posted strong times in the 200m race. Page came in second overall with a time of 24.96 while Emhoff lowered her season's best time by almost two tenths of a second to 25.59. Emhoff also registered a second place finish in the 400m on Saturday (58.68).
Megan Thompson (RJr., Fellows, Calif., Taft Union HS) competed in her first 800m race of the year and posted the fastest Roadrunner time of the day. Her 2:17.70 finish was good enough for seventh place overall in a pool of 26 runners and makes her the fifth fastest woman in the WAC so far this season.
The women's 4 x 100m relay team lowered its season's best time as the four-woman crew crossed the finish line with a time of 47.55. The team only needs to cut down another second to crack the Bakersfield all-time Top 10 list in the event.
In the first 5000m race of her career, freshman LaShya Morgan (Bakersfield, Calif., Ridgeview HS) moved into the Top 20 all-time in Bakersfield's history. Her time of 19:18.15 was good enough for 7th at the Cal Poly Invite, was the fifth fastest time in the WAC this year, and made her the 17th fastest Roadrunner ever.
The woman finished the multi-dual meet with losses against Cal Poly and Fresno State but won against Pepperdine.
Men
Bakersfield's men had strong showings, especially from a few upperclassmen. Justus Mora (Sr., Sparks, Nev., Spanish Springs HS) put together a great race in the 100m dash. The senior's time of 10.90 was good enough for 4th at the meet, but lowered his season best by almost two tenths of a second and came within two hundredths of his career best time. Coming into the week, Mora's time in the 100m was fast enough to be the seventh fastest time in the WAC this season. Mora also finished the 200m dash in a time of 22.93, good enough for eighth place in San Luis Obispo.
While Matthew Turkington (RJr., Bakersfield, Calif., Centennial HS) finished slightly behind Mora in the 100m (11.08), the Bakersfield native got the better of his teammate in the 200m with a 5th place finish (22.55). Turkington's 100m time lowered his season best time by 0.29.
Bryan Wilmert (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., Liberty HS) continued his strong season with another long toss in the hammer on Friday. Wilmert posted a distance of 184-10 which gave him a first place finish at the Invite. Although Wilmert's longest throw of the season was 197-00, his distance this weekend was still further than any other WAC thrower in 2014 coming into the week.
Karnell Grimes (Sr., Rosamond, Calif., Rosamond HS) posted a second place finish in the men's javelin with a distance of 177-06.50. Freshman Rolando Torres lowered his collegiate best time in the 400m by almost a whole second (52.52).
The men finished the multi-dual meet with losses against Cal Poly and Fresno State but won against Pepperdine.
The 'Runners will take a week off before returning to the track. Bakersfield will travel to Claremont, Calif. for the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Saturday, April 12.
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