Concordia Competes in Final Indoor Qualifier

By Stacey King

(2/27/07 - Track and Field) CLAREMONT - A number of Concordia track and field team members competed at the Carl Rossi Relays hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and broke school records, personal records and qualified in the last meet to do so before the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships, March 8-10 in Johnson City, Tenn.

After competing at home on Friday in an added Concordia Last Chance Qualifier, the Eagles were back on the track the following morning to try and add a few more names to the roster for the indoor national meet.

“The second meet on Saturday was for us to prepare ourselves for what nationals is going to be like and that is to race back-to-back in multiple events,” said head coach Martin Gonzalez. “My goal was to come back on Monday to work on more options of what to do at nationals.  I observed who’s getting stronger and where our weaknesses are at on the track and team spirit.”

The men’s mile relay team of Marco Venancio, Pat Marion, Andres Padilla, and Sean Brosnan took first place with a time of 17:19.39, finishing in front of USC, Westmont, and Cal Poly Pomona. “It was a great start for Concordia,” Gonzalez said. “They went out there and challenged themselves to get it done in the middle distance event.”

The women’s 4x800 meter relay team comprised of Sandra Prado, Natalie Gattrell, Yanely Estrada, and Jen Clouse ran clocked a time of 9:27.59 taking first place and improving on an automatic qualifying mark. “We still have room to run even faster, but for this day the competitive edge that all four girls displayed was inspiring,” Gonzalez said.

Estrada said, “It was good because we had to do back to back days. The team did good dealing with that. We’re getting ready for nationals.”

In the men’s 3000 meter run, CUI student/former athlete, Carlos Handler, took first with 8:26.43, which was his second best personal record. Mike Schmidt took third with 8:36.40, improving his automatic mark and his personal record. Marco Venancio took fourth with a PR at 8:36.44. Joseph Lopez met the provisional qualifying standard and finished 11th.

Joseph Lopez ran the 5K the night before, but missed the qualifying time by two seconds. “He had to come back the next day to have one more shot at it, this time the 3K,” Gonzalez said. “He did. He got it by a second -getting the national standard and a personal record.”

“The throwers had a great day at Rossi,” Coach Len Blutreich said. “Marie Gardner opened her discus season at 146' 6". This was farther than anything she did last year. Paul Grieve improved over last week’s opener with 194' 9 1/2". This is about 4 feet off the school record (198' 11") that was set at last years Outdoor Nationals.”

Kalli Ickes set a school record in javelin with a throw that measured 107’5”.

Paul Castaneda took first place with his shot put mark of 55’0.25 and set two school records. “This is only one foot off the best NAIA throw in the nation, (56' 0") that was recorded last week,” noted Blutreich. “He then proceeded to the discus and demolished the school discus record with a throw of 169' 0". The old record was 164' 4".”

The men’s 4x800 relay team made up of Wai John Wai, Peter Trudelle, Luis De La Vega, and Sean Brosnan improved its automatic qualifying time. “Luis had his best performance so far this season breaking the 2 minute barrier,” Gonzalez said.  

Natalie Peterson ran the 3000 meters in 10:05.05, missing her own school record by two seconds. Rachel Williams ran a time of 10:22.01, improving her auto time and setting a personal record. “It was a blessing of God,” Williams said.

 Marco Venancio said, “The team did awesome overall. It was the best track meet in Concordia history."

"All the way around it was a great weekend,” Gonzalez said. “It was everything but ordinary.”

Carl Rossi Meet Results

Women 100 Meter Dash: Marie Gardner - 13.06, Zahira Montanez - 13.52
Women 3000 Meter Run: Natalie Peterson - 10:05.05, Rachel Williams - 10:22.01
Women 4x400 Meter Relay: 4:04.11
Women 4x800 Meter Relay: 9:27.59
Women Long Jump: Michelle Franks - 15’8.25”
Women Triple Jump: Michelle Franks - 33’5.75”
Women Discus Throw: Marie Gardner - 146’7”
Men 100 Meter Dash: Rod West - 11.51, Ben Coulombe - 11.52
Men 3000 Meter: Marco Venancio - 8:36.44 PR
Men 4x400 Meter Relay: 3:31.83
Men 4x800 Meter Relay: Wai John Wai, Peter Trudelle, Luis De La Vega and Sean Brosnan - 7:50.48
Men Triple Jump: Chad Cooke - 44’1.5”
Men Long Jump: Chad Cooke - 21’10”
Men Javelin Throw: Paul Grieve - 194’9”

National Automatic qualifying time: 

Women 3000 Meter Run: Rachel Williams - 10:22.01 improved auto/PR
Men 3000 Meter: Mike Schmidt - 8:36.40 improved auto/PR
Men 4x800 Meter Relay: Wai John Wai, Peter Trudelle, Luis De La Vega and Sean Brosnan - 7:50.48 improved auto

National Provisional qualifying time:

Men 3000 Meter: Joseph Lopez - 8:54.10, PR

School Records set:

Women Javelin Throw: Kalli Ickes - 107’5”
Men 4x1600 Meter Relay: Marco Venancio, Pat Marion, Andres Padilla, and Sean Brosnan - 17:19.39
Men Shot Put: Paul Castaneda - 55’0.25”
Men Discus Throw: Paul Castaneda - 169’