While the Arizona track and field team was confident heading into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship in Seattle, Wash., last weekend, the men’s team was hampered by hamstring injuries, finishing in fifth-place.
While the men had a less-than-desirable finish, the women’s team placed third, and head coach Fred Harvey said he was pleased with the meet as a whole.
“”The guys had a couple of injuries, but everyone else was able to step up,”” Harvey said. “”We had about 10 personal records total this weekend. I’m extremely proud of everyone.””
The injured athletes weren’t nearly as at ease with the finish.
Sophomore Chris McSwain was 10 meters into the 60-meter preliminaries when his hamstring cramped and gave out. The injury would eventually take him out of his 200m race, one that he was seeded to win.
“”I’m highly upset,”” McSwain said. “”We were 10 points out of third and I would have been able to get at least 15. I was supposed to put up points, but I ended up having to watch. I couldn’t do anything to help the team.””
In addition to McSwain, redshirt freshman Nico Reaves injured himself during the men’s 400m preliminaries and wasn’t able to finish the race. The injury broke his season streak that saw him reach a new personal record at every meet.
The women’s team, however, was able to stay healthy and score 109 points for third place.
Senior Liz Patterson, who was seeded first in the women’s high jump and was the Mt. Pac Champion last year, finished as the runner-up to freshman Brigetta Barrett.
“”It was just an off day. I had too many misses,”” Patterson said. “”It’s a bittersweet feeling. This was my last Mt. Pac, but people all around were stepping up. This is the highest we’ve ever placed since I’ve been here.””
Sprint Finish
• Junior LaTisha Holden won the women’s 60-meter and improved her national ranking to 12th place.
• The women’s 4×400-meter relay team came in second and provisionally qualified for nationals.
• Senior Luis Rivera-Morales came in first in the men’s long jump and second in the men’s high jump. He also broke his prior school record and set the Mexican indoor national record.
