HAYWARD – Individually, Amilia Santos, Ashley Jones, Aja Erskine and Kasey Barnett are forces to be reckoned with. But put them all together, and they are practically unstoppable. Twice already this season, the quartet has set a new Chico State record in the 4x100-meter relay, and Saturday they did it again to highlight a productive day for the Wildcats at the East Bay-Chabot Legacy Invitational at Chabot College in Hayward.
The foursome improved their existing NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark and shaved nearly a half-second off its own school record, stopping the clock Saturday at 46.50 seconds.
Barnett competed as an individual in several events. She ran a 12.09 in the premilinaries and a 12.29 in the finals of the 100-meter dash, posted a time of 25.33 in the 200-meter dash, and notched the top height of the day in the pole vault, clearing the crossbar at 11-feet-11.75.
Jones won the finals of the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.16 seconds, while Santos placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.31 seconds. Erskine ran the fourth fastest time in Wildcat history (56.19 seconds) and notched a PR in the 200-meter dash, then teamed with Erica Arenas, Kym Crosby and Karlie Castro-Kahn to take top honors in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:55.32.
Tori Mason won both the 100- and 400-meter hurdles with times of 14.85 seconds and 1:03.47, respectively. Rose Stephens-Dileo finished second to Mason in the 400 hurdles and notched the eighth-fastest time in school history with a PR of 1:03.99. Lora James registered Saturday's top time in the 800-meter run, clocking in with a personal best of 2:16.32.
In Legacy Invitational field events, Chico State posted the top five finishers in the shot put, with Maddie Allen matching her PR of 39-feet-04.50 and Brooke Whitburn establishing a new best with a heave of 37-feet-07.25. It was Whitburn's second PR of the meet – Friday she recorded a throw of 113-feet-01 in the javelin.
Annelise Spargo and Sarah Hockensmith also notched personal bests Saturday in Hayward. Spargo finished second to Barnett in the pole vault, but her height of 11-feet-07.75 is the seventh best in school history. Hockensmith won the Legacy Invitational's long jump with a PR leap of 18-feet-07.25.
The Chico State women also took home top team honors at the Legacy Invitational, scoring 369 points to easily outdistance second place William Jessup (122 points).
Meanwhile in southern California, Olivia Watt and McCall Habermehl were representing the Wildcats at the Beach Track & Field Invitational at Cerritos College. Both had huge days: Watt finished fifth overall in a field of 97 in the 1,500-meter run – her time of 4:28.03 improved her NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark and qualified as the second-fastest time in the event ever by a Wildcat, just .35 seconds shy of Kara Lubieniecki's all-time school mark. Habermehl placed 10th in the Beach Invitational's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a PR time of 11:16.09.
FINAL RESULTS - Cal State East Bay-Chabot Legacy Invitational
FINAL RESULTS - Beach Track & Field Invitational
The Wildcats take a well-deserved week off from competition to prepare for the upcoming California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championships May 1-3. The Chico State women will be trying to capture their fifth straight conference track & field title.
