The No. 5 Arizona women’s track and field team had four first place finishes at the Jim Click Shootout this weekend.
Competing against Stanford, Ohio State, Texas, Iowa and Kansas State, the teams earned points based off of individuals’ finishes in the races.
The women’s squad took first with 188 points, and the No. 21 men’s team took fourth with 69 points.
Junior Shapri Romero’s personal-best time of 52.37 in the 400-meter run was not only good for first place, but also ranks as the No. 1 time in the nation.
“The time meant more than the win,” Romero said. “My coach and I wanted to open up at 52 [seconds], so the strategy behind it was good. It is definitely a confidence builder.”
Romero was joined in the 4×100-meter relay by freshman Traci-Lynn Hicks, junior Tamara Pridgett and junior Germe Poston. The quartet won that relay with a time of 44.76, the No. 4 time in Arizona history.
Later on, Romero led off the 4×400-meter relay with the team of senior Shale’ Garland, Pridgett and senior Georganne Moline. They placed first with a season best time of 3:33.32, which is also No. 7 in Arizona history.
With another personal-best, Romero placed first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.50. Poston followed closely behind with a personal-best time of 23.55.
The distance runners also dominated their competitions.
In the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Stephanie Bulder placed first with a personal-best time of 10:46.21.
Sophomore Sam Macaluso won the men’s 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:50.82, a personal-best time.
“I just went out and tried to push it,” Macaluso said. “There were some guys pushing me the whole time. Fortunately, we deal with [the heat] pretty frequently, just running at 4 p.m. every day, gets you ready for it.”
In the women’s 1,500-meter race, senior Jen Bergman ran a personal-best of 4:29.50, which was good for first place.
Senior Clifton Leake ran another personal-best time of 51.10 in the 400-meter hurdles, good for second place overall.
In the 100-meter dash, Poston delivered a personal-best performance of 11.47 earning her a first place finish and a No. 3 time in Arizona history.
Senior Edgar Rivera-Morales placed first in the men’s high jump with a mark of 7-feet-3.75 inches. On the women’s side, sophomore Shakayla McEaddy placed third, jumping a 5-feet-7.25 inches.
Senior Brigetta Barrett didn’t compete in the high jump, but instead ran the 400-meter, where she placed 5th.
For the throwers, senior Taylor Freeman’s personal-best toss of 180-feet-1-inch in the discus earned her a first place finish. Junior Julie Labonté followed in second with a personal-best toss of 178-feet-1-inch. Labonté went on to win the shot put competition with a mark of 56-feet, and sophomore Baillie Gibson followed with a throw of 55-feet.
The Cats will head to Walnut, Calif. next weekend to compete in the Mt. SAC Relays.
“We were unbelievable in terms of our athletes running personal bests during this time of the year,” Arizona head coach Fred Harvey said in a press release. “We’ve talked about it a lot, taking the opportunity to do the things you are capable of doing, don’t wait for tomorrow. The team is on cloud nine right now. This has always been a great meet and we want to continue to do the things we’re doing.”
