The UA track and field teams competed in the Power 5 Invitational this past weekend in Birmingham, Alabama, a two-day event.
Athletes on both the men’s and women’s side continued to set new personal records, continuing the program’s strong start to the season.
Following the first day, head coach Fred Harvey was very happy with his team’s results.
“It was definitely a very good first day,” Harvey said. “We are quickly finding out what kind of team we are going to be. I am really pleased with where we are at.”
Once again, Pau Tonnesen came up big for the Wildcats, finishing with two new personal records at the end of the two-day meet.
Tonnesen ran the 60-meter hurdle, finishing in 13th place with a new personal record of 8.24 seconds.
The following day, Tonnesen set a personal record in the indoor long jump with a mark of 23 feet, 5.25 inches. This mark earned him a fifth place finish.
Also performing well on the men’s side was Collins Kibet, a junior who is also known to go by the name “C-40.”
Kibet finished first overall in the 800-meter race with a time of 1.48.90. Although this was just shy of Kibet’s personal record in the event, he now holds the best time in this event at the Crossplex Track and Field Stadium that the meet took place in.
Aaron Castle and Viktor Gardenkranz both had solid outings in the men’s shot put event. Castle finished in fifth overall with a throw of 60 feet, 10 inches. Gardenkranz had a toss of 52 feet, 10.25 inches earning himself a 15th-place finish.
There were also many high finishes for the Wildcats on the women’s side.
Tatum Waggoner set a new personal best in the 200-meter preliminaries with a time of 24.46 seconds. Gia Trevisan also set a personal record in the same event with a time of 25.20 seconds.
Waggoner competed in the 400-meter dash with teammate Nnenya Hailey. Hailey finished seventh with a time of 54.12 seconds. Waggoner came in tenth with a mark of 54.90 seconds.
Claire Green finished third in the women’s mile run with a time of 4:51.00.
Amarissa Hawker finished in seventh place in the women’s shot put event. Hawker earned herself a mark of 48 feet, 4.75 inches — a personal record which will almost certainly be broken considering she is only a freshman.
Lizzie Smith finished in seventh place overall in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:10.83. This was a personal record for her.
For the women’s 4×400 relay event, the Wildcats had an “A” and “B” team. The A team, which consisted of Hailey, Waggoner, Trevisan and Jasper Gray, finished in seventh place overall with a time of 3:38.09. The B team consisted of Lizzie Smith, Morgan Struble, Alyssa Thompson and Katelin Warren. They earned themselves an 11th place finish with a time of 3:45.35.
Running for the men’s side in the 4×400 relay event was Blake Eichler, Miles Parish, Michael Demby and Pau Tonnesen. With a time of 3:17.65, they earned themselves a ninth-place finish.
Overall, the meet was viewed as a success for the Wildcats. There were many high finishes and personal records set for the Track Cats.
“The theme of the meet this week was for us to see how we competed against the higherlevel competition,” Harvey said. “We stepped it up another notch and had some tremendous performances, a lot of PRs broken again. The cool thing about this week is we didn’t come in and watch the higher competition, we came in and competed against it. I am definitely excited about this second meet and now it is time to get ready for next week.”
Arizona’s next meet will be next weekend in Seattle as they compete in the University of Washington Invitational. Events will begin at 5 P.M. MST.
Follow Hunter McAdams on Twitter.
