FRESNO, Calif. – Blake Rodriguez earned all-conference honors in the decathlon to highlight the men's track and field team's performance at the PacWest Championships this past weekend.
Rodriguez finished in third place with a career-best score of 5,556 points, earning six team points for the Lions.
The Yucaipa native won events in the shot put and javelin, placed second in the discus and came in third in the high jump, 400 meters and 1500 meters.
He posted personal-bests in five of the 10 events, including 100 meter dash (11.39), long jump (19-06.25/5.95m), shot put (38-11/11.86m), high jump (5-7/1.70m) and discus (116-08/35.56m).
Rodriguez ran 51.00 in the 400 meters, 19.46 in the 110 hurdles and 5:02.69 in the 1500 meters. He also cleared 8-10.25 (2.70m) in the pole vault and 143-03 (43.66m) in the javelin.
All-conference honorees from the PacWest meet must finish at least top three in their respective events.
In its first PacWest championship appearance, Vanguard finished eighth out of nine teams with 19 points.
In addition to Rodriguez, a number of other Lions picked up points for the squad.
Freshman Donovan Ralls qualified for the 400 meter finals with an eighth place performance (49.67) in the preliminaries. He improved to a sixth place showing in the finals with a time of 49.26 seconds for three points.
Sophomore Ommar Arroyo also racked up three points with a sixth place effort in the 3000 meter steeplechase. He chopped off nine seconds to post a personal-best 9:41.44.
In the 110 meter hurdles, senior Chris Watson ran 14.82 in the prelims to qualify for the finals, where he finished in 14.97 for sixth place. The finish earned the Blue and Gold another three points.
The high jump saw freshman Zachary Velasco place eighth overall with his best clearance of 6-01.50 (1.87m), tacking on another point to VU's team score.
Both relay teams also scored for the Lions. The 4x400 quartet – Isaiah Feaver, Ralls, Cohen Swift and Jonathan Krynicki – notched two points with a seventh place effort in 3:20.55.
Ralls, Krynicki, Rodriguez and Watson placed eighth in the 4x100 relay in 42.98 seconds.
The Lions competed in a number of other events in which they either did not qualify for the finals or score points.
Four Lions participated in the 800 meter run, with Feaver leading the way in 1:59.37, followed by Cooper Anderson (2:02.42), Josiah Kirby (2:02.59) and Jesse O'Campo (2:03.80).
Swift ran the 400 meter hurdles in 59.36 seconds for 14th place.
Krynicki and Ralls finished 11th and 19th in the 200 meters with times of 22.29 and 22.76, respectively.
In the 10000 meter run, O'Campo placed 17th in 33:49.10 and Anthony Kennen recorded a time of 34:44.67 for 19th overall.
Freshman Trevor Bode appeared in the long jump, clearing 19-10.75 (6.06m), while Velasco also competed and had a best mark of 17-09 (5.41m).
What Was Said?: "I couldn't be prouder of our team and how they competed this weekend," said Head Coach Bryan Wilkins. "They showed heart, grit and determination. They put it all on the line and dug deep. They were also all-in cheering for their teammates with great enthusiasm. They executed well and loved well!"
