Westmont Men’s and Women’s Track and Field was back at it on Saturday in Santa Barbara, when the Warriors hosted the annual Westmont Classic.
The weekend began back on Thursday and Friday, when the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon took place during the Klein/Nwaba Combined Events.
For the men, Westmont’s Charlie Covington was the club’s representative, as the Warrior finished in seventh with a score of 4,382 points.
Covington’s best event during the decathlon was the competition’s final event, the 1500 meter run. Covington finished his two-day competition with a second-place finish in the 1500, and a time of 4:48.00.
For Westmont’s women, a trio of Warriors competed, with Madalyn Hofman, Miranda Irwin, and Noella Breytenbach taking part.
Westmont’s best finisher was Hofman, who came in ninth out of 18 with 3,535 points. Hofman’s best event during the heptathlon was the high jump, where the Warrior cleared 1.45 meters.
On Saturday, Westmont experienced much success, beginning early in the day with the men’s long jump. During the event, Westmont’s Narindra Rafidimalala posted an event-best mark of 7.36m, finishing more than half-a-meter ahead of the next-best competitor.
Also for the men, Jack Vanden Heuvel qualified for the PacWest Championships with a very impressive 1500 meter run.
After lurking in the pack for the three laps, the former NAIA All-American turned on the jets, closing a near 50-meter gap between himself and the leader.
Vanden Heuvel surpassed his final competitor with ease by the race’s final stretch, winning the event with a time of 3:56.50.
Westmont’s women’s 4×100 relay team also finished first in their event, thanks to a similar last-minute kick.
Jesca Gilbert and Makenzie Fauver ran the first two legs of the relay, before Jaiden Rodrigues ran a blur of a third-led handing it off to Charlotte Williams who finished the job. Together, the quartet won the relay with a time of 51-seconds flat.
Rodrigues also made program history later on in the day, when she competed in the women’s 100 meter dash. Rodrigues quickly pulled away from the pack from the pop of the gun, something you don’t usually see in such a short race.
Her lead continued to grow, however, and by the time she finished, all eyes pointed to the scoreboard for multiple reasons.
Not only did Rodrigues qualify for the PacWest Championships, but with a time of 12.00, Jaiden Rodrigues set a new program record in the women’s 100 meter dash.
Rodrigues broke an 11-year record previously held by Amanda Chevalier, who ran a previous program-best of 12.05 in May of 2013.
“That’s something I never thought I was going to achieve,” said Rodrigues, “but that’s crazy. I’m really happy it happened. Again, I’m really grateful for how today went, it was just so unexpected.”
Rodrigues’ teammate, Charlotte Williams, also qualified for the PacWest Championships, finishing just behind Jaiden with a time of 12.40.
Rodrigues wasn’t done there, as she later on threatened the 200 meter dash record with a finishing mark of 24.88. While coming half-a-second shy of the program record (24.39), the Warrior still qualified for the PacWest Championships and finished first in the race.
Another impressive mark was freshman Joshua Lin’s, who finished first amongst attached athletes in the men’s 800 meter run. Lin’s time of 1:56.10 was a new personal record, and another PacWest Championship qualifying time.
“I hadn’t ran an 800 since my freshman year of high school, and it was a 2:15 back then,” recalled Lin. “I had already qualified for conference in the 400, so it was nice to add another, and get some extra training. I didn’t expect it to go as well as it did.”
Westmont’s men and women will return to team competition on April 6, when the club travels down south to take part in the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational.