IRVINE, Calif. – Chase Mars (SO/Chino Hills, CA) and Jordyn Burke (SO/Yucaipa, CA) lowered their own school records to highlight a host of impressive performances at Saturday's Team 4 Titus and Ely Invitational.
Mars, who just last week reset his own school record with a time of 10.50 at the Ross and Sharon Irwin Invitational, dipped even lower in the prelims this afternoon. Mars finished in 10.45 seconds, registering the sixth-fastest time in the NAIA this season. He returned for the final and won that race in 10.46. The 10.45 prelim time qualified Mars for nationsls at the NAIA "A" standard level.
Jordyn Burke lowered her top mark of 62.30 in the 400 meter hurdles to 61.99 as the winner of her event. Burke's time rates as the second-fastest in the country currently. She also met the NAIA "A" standard to qualify for the national meet later this spring.
Eryn Burke (SO/Yucaipa, CA) won the 200 meters in 24.81 seconds and finished fourth in the 100 meters, clocking 12.30 to rise to No. 6 all-time in the VU record book. Her teammates, Armiyah Johnson (SR/Compton, CA) and Dorothy Jackson (SR/Perris, CA), finished second and fourth in the event with times of 12.24 and 12.26, respectively.
Jackson and Johnson ran side-by-side in the 100 meters to finish one-two by the slightest of margins. Jackson posted 12.187 while Johnson came in at 12.190.
The women's 4x800 relay team competed alone and still recorded the fifth-fastest time in school history. Kate Baranski (SO/El Cajon, CA), Jessina Morales (SO/Lake Elsinore, CA), Karla Sanchez-Ruiz (SO/Los Angeles, CA) and Olivia Finch (FR/Heppner, OR) clocked 9:35.25.
The 4x400 quartet of Jackson, Brooke Dalgity (SO/Yucaipa, CA), Nohemi Anderson (JR/El Centro, CA) and Jane Freeman (JR/Huntington Beach, CA) set a meet record with a winning time of 3:59.52.
In the field events, a couple of Lions marched up the charts with Aaliyah Espinoza (FR/Oxnard, CA) notching the No. 2 all-time mark at Vanguard in the discus. She had a top toss of 37.07m (121-07) to finish fourth in the event. Teammate Jaelah Butler (SR/La Quinta, CA) placed third with a mark of 38.15m (125-02).
Faith Hunt (JR/Yorba Linda, CA) moved up to No. 8 all-time at VU with a leap of 10.47m (34-04.25) in the triple jump. That locked her in to the No. 8 spot on all-time list. She finished second in the triple jump and third in the long jump, clearing 5.01m (16-05.25).
Butler finished second in the shot put at 11.77m (38-07.50) and second in the javelin at 27.62m (90-07). Elsa Riddle (FR/Corvallis, OR) was third in the javelin with a heave of 27.25m (89-05).
The men also registered some top-10 marks in addition to the record-breaking performance from Mars.
The 4x100 relay consisting of Terence Williams (FR/La Palma, CA), Chris Watson (JR/Hesperia, CA), Gemaal Britt (SR/Corona, CA) and Mars ran 41.83 to win the race, and also tied for fourth in the VU record book.
Edgar Sactic (FR/Gardena, CA) competed in three events, with his 12.91m (42-04.25) triple jump effort resulting in the No. 6 all-time performance for the Blue and Gold. Sactic also finished third in the long jump (6.00m – 19.08.25) and high jump (1.65m – 5-05).
The javelin featured Blake Rodriguez (SR/Yucaipa, CA) throwing a distance of 46.65m (153-00) to finish second overall. But his effort in the discus vaulted him to No. 7 on the VU top-10 list as he had a top toss of 35.48m (116-05).
Anthony Hernandez (FR/Phelan, CA) finished fourth in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:10.78.
The 4x800 relay team posted a third place finish as Evan Hernandez (SO/Menifee, CA), Payton Kubalsky (JR/Irvine, CA), Justin Bartlebaugh (SR/Riverside, CA) and Cooper Anderson (FR/Murrieta, CA) clocked 8:32.33.
What Was Said?: "We're grateful to Concordia for hosting this meet which is so close by," said Head Coach Bryan Wilkins. "We enjoyed the support of lots of family, friends and Vanguard students. We also witnessed some great performances again including a pair of school records, and loads of lifetime bests and season bests."
What's Next?: The Lions return to action on Saturday, April 8 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invite.
