CLAREMONT, Calif. -- The Bakersfield men's and women's track and field team took on the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Saturday as the 'Runners put together a strong set of performances.
Men
The 'Runners had 16 male representatives competing in 13 different events and the men put together a solid showing among a huge group of collegiate and track club athletes.
The 400m hurdlers performed well as Richard Maestre (RJr., Bakersfield, Calif., South HS) and Max Fagan (Jr., Auburn, Calif., College of the Siskiyous) both posted strong times. Fagan finish the race in a time of 55.86, which was good enough for 15th out of 44 runners. Maestre had the better showing as the upperclassman finished in 54.94, a time good enough to move him from 19th to 18th in the Bakersfield All-Time Top 20 list in the event. Maestre improved on his career-best time and placed 11th overall in the event, but was the sixth fastest of collegiate competitors.
Justus Mora (Sr., Sparks, Nev., Spanish Springs HS) and Matthew Turkington (RJr., Bakersfield, Calif., Centennial HS) both ran well in the 100m dash as the senior posted a time of 11.08 while his teammate finished in 11.12. Turkington ran fast enough to finish 24th in the large pool of 96 runners while Mora finished 20th.
The men's 4 x 400m relay team of Fagan, Maestre, Turkington, and DeArris Rockett (Fr., Palmdale, Calif., Highland HS) finished the race in 3:27.28. While the time was good enough for sixth overall, the team posted the fastest Roadrunner time in over three years.
Women
The women represented Bakersfield well as 17 'Runners took part in 11 events.
Ariana Mariscal (Fr., Bakersfield, Calif., North HS) lowered her collegiate-best time in the 800m race. The freshman crossed the finish line with a time of 2:13.91, which improved her personal record by nearly a second and a half. With the fastest CSUB time since 2005, Mariscal moved from ninth to eighth on the CSUB All-Time Top 20 list in the event.
Alyssa Page (Jr., Santa Rosa, Calif., Montgomery HS) and Dominique Alexander (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., South HS) put together strong times in the 100m and 200m races. The junior sprinter finished in ninth place overall in both races while crossing the line first among collegiate competitors in each. Alexander finished 37th and 42nd in the races, respectively, in large pools of sprinters which held over 100 runners each.
The women's 4 x 100m relay team of Marina Emhoff (RFr., Bakersfield, Calif., North HS), Erica Wilcox (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Liberty HS), Alexander, and Page finished second overall and first among the collegiate teams with a time of 47.51. Meghan Cleare (Fr., Boron, Calif., Boron HS) improved her personal best in the hammer throw by just over five feet with a distance of 131-00. Gabby Giuliano (So., Bakersfield, Calif., Stockdale HS) threw a career best in the javelin as the Bakersfield native posted a distance of 115-00. Giuliano also moved up the All-Time Top 20 list in the javelin as she leapfrogged from 17th place to 16th.
Bakersfield will travel to the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. next weekend as the team winds down the last two competitions before the WAC Outdoor Championships.
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