CLAREMONT, Calif. – Eryn Burke made history on Saturday, becoming the first female at Vanguard to break 55 seconds in the 400 meter dash to highlight competition at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational. 

The sophomore sprinter lowered her own school record from 55.05 to 54.89 as she finished second overall among 29 participating athletes. The 54.89 ranks Burke No. 2 nationally. Burke finished second in the race to Kynnedi McCall, who clocked 54.71 for NCAA Division I program CSU Bakersfield.

Making her season debut in the 400, Brooke Dalgity finished third overall in 57.02 seconds, establishing an NAIA "B" standard and landing 13th on the national list. Elizabeth Betten made her career debut in the race and finished fourth overall in a time of 57.61.

Eryn Burke also competed in the 200 meters and posted her second runner-up finish in 24.54 seconds. 

The women's 4x100 meter relay team notched the second-fastest time in school history as Dorothy Jackson, Eryn Burke, Jordyn Burke and Armiyah Johnson ran the distance in 46.46, missing the VU record by four-hundredths of a second.

Kate Baranski came close to breaking the top-10 twice as she was VU's top finisher in the 800 meters (2:21.24) and 1500 meters (4:47.01), placing 13th overall in both events. Bella Nelson had the biggest PR among Blue and Gold competitors in the 1500, chopping 11 seconds off from 5:28 to 5:17.

In the 3000 meter steeplechase, Jessina Morales claimed fifth place in 12:26.37.

In the field events, Jaelah Butler had the best showing on the women's side with her heave of 12.05m (39-06.50) in the shot put, good for third place.

Julianna Holm tied for third place in the high jump at 1.50m (4-11.00). 

Faith Hunt tied for seventh in the long jump at 5.02m (16-05.75) and finished 12th in the triple jump with a top leap of 10.01m (32-10.25).

On the men's side, Chase Mars continued his solid season in become the VU record holder in the 100 and 200 meter dash. The owner of the gold standard in the 100 (10.45), Mars posted a 21.06 to finish third overall in the 200. He was three-hundredths of a second off his personal-best.

Mars ran 10.58 in the 100 on Saturday.

Evan Hernandez tied Mars for best individual finish on Saturday as his time of 15:20.63 in the 5000 meter run was good for third.

Edgar Sactic tied his career-best in the triple jump with a clearance of 12.91m (42-04.25), which keeps him at No. 6 on the VU all-time list. He finished fifth overall in the event.

Why Is It Important?: The meet gave several VU athletes an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming Golden State Athletic Conference Championships in late April.

What Was Said?: "We were all excited to see Eryn go under 55 seconds today," said Head Coach Bryan Wilkins. "That's something she has been shooting for for a long time. It was also great to have Julianna Holm, Ariana Rodriguez, Ashleigh Neu and Anthony Kennen competing for the first time this season. And we're proud of many of our athletes who had lifetime bests on the day. It was a very good day on the "Blue Track" at Pitzer!"

What's Next?: The Lions will be back in action on Wednesday at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.