With wet weather in the forecast, Chico State women's track & field head coach John Brunk told his charges to be ready to compete in the rain Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational. It turned out Mother Nature kept things dry until the meet was over, allowing the athletes to concentrate solely on their performances. The result—14 event wins, over 40 personal or season-best marks, and two efforts that rearranged the Chico State all-time Top 10 list in the high jump and 400-meter dash—made for an extremely productive day at University Stadium.
Savannah Bailey scored a personal best mark of 56.82 seconds in winning the Wildcat Invitational's 400-meter dash, while also posting the sixth-fastest time in the event in Chico State history. Nadia Torkman was a winner in the high jump, clearing the bar with a PR height of 1.66 meters, putting her in a tie for eighth place on the Wildcats' all-time Top 10 list in the event.
Chico State dominated the Wildcat Invitational running events, racking up nine first place finishes:
-- Mckenzie Blair won the 100-meter dash, and reached the finals by scoring a personal best time of 12.61 seconds in the preliminaries.
-- In addition to her win in the 400-meter dash, Savannah Bailey also took top honors in the 200-meter dash, stopping the clock with a season-best time of 25.68 seconds.
-- Katie Hawley scored a PR time of 2:17.94 while finishing first in the 800-meter run.
-- Marissa D'Atri won the 1,500-meter run with a personal best time of 4:44.98.
-- Alexis Hinojosa notched a PR time of 15.14 seconds to finish first in the 100-meter hurdles.
-- Chloe Taylor won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 1:04.85.
-- The 4x100-meter relay team Mckenzie Blair, Chloe Taylor, Savannah Bailey, and Nadia Torkman recorded Chico State's fastest time in the event so far this season, finishing first at 48.76 seconds.
-- The Wildcat quartet of Nadia Torkman, Talyn Steffens, Kelli Vierra, and Kirsten Purcell took first place honors in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:09.33.
Other personal best marks by running event Saturday at the Wildcat Invitational:
-- 200-meter dash—Natalie Muse, 27.56 seconds (finished in third place)
-- 400-meter dash—Taylor Lee, 59.07 seconds (finished second)
-- 800-meter run—Natalie Dinin, 2:24.43 (finished fourth) and Kelli Vierra, 2:36.65 (eighth)
-- 1,500-meter run—Katie Hawley, 4:46.12 (finished third); Natalie Dinin, 5:03.25 (12th); Hannah Ryan, 5:07.85 (16th), and Marina Dear, 5:15.69 (18th)
-- 100-meter hurdles—Chloe Taylor, 15.60 seconds in the preliminaries, matching her PR
Chico State was just as productive in the Wildcat Invitational's field events, finishing first in five events. In addition to Nadia Torkman's win in the high jump, Alana Ochoa took top honors in the discus with a season-best throw of 41.87 meters; Amy Bell finished first in the pole vault with a height of 3.67 meters; Ava Cavallaro posted a new personal best in winning the shot put (11.81 meters), and Natalie Muse finished first in the triple jump with a leap of 10.50 meters.
In addition to Torkman and Cavallaro, there were a healthy handful of PRs set in the field events:
-- Hammer—Alana Ochoa set the tone Friday with a second place finish and a personal best throw of 42.47 meters
-- Javelin—Hunter Casperson, 29.55 meters (finished eighth)
-- Discus—Ava Cavallaro, 37.66 meters (finished second); Sara Filter, 29.82 meters (fifth), and Nicole Groteguth, 24.42 meters (seventh)
-- Pole vault—Carissa Rodriguez, 3.37 meters (tied for fourth) and Samantha Brackett, 3.37 meters (tied for fourth)
-- Long jump—Samantha Brackett, 4.88 meters (finished second)
-- Shot put—Nicole Groteguth, 7.96 meters (finished eighth) and Talyn Steffens, 7.63 meters (ninth)
-- High jump—Amy Bell, 1.54 meters (finished tied for second)
The Chico State women's track & field team will take next weekend off before returning to competition March 31–April 2 as part of the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, taking place at Cox Stadium on the campus of San Francisco State.
