PC: Jordan Ostby, Caltech Track and Field
LA VERNE, Calif. (Apr. 16, 2022) – The Caltech men's track and field team headed to the University of La Verne on Saturday, where they competed against athletes from CMS, Chapman, La Verne, and Oxy in SCIAC Multi Dual 3. The Beavers continued to show improvement and success at their final SCIAC dual meet, especially during the distance and field events.
In the Men's 100m Dash, freshman Roy Jiang (Vancouver, B.C. / Southridge School) led the Beavers with an 11.66 sprint that placed 9th overall. Classmate Cason Shepard (Vancouver, Wash. / Union) participated in his first 100m Dash of the season and placed 13th with an 11.76 finish. Senior Jerome Seebeck (Chicago Ill. / Walter Payton College Prep) followed close behind, taking 15th place after his 11.85 dash.
Jiang later competed in his first 200m Dash of the season where he placed 10th after a 23.29 finish. Junior Malik Paulino (Little Elm, Texas / Little Elm) competed alongside Jiang in the 200m event, placing 5th in his heat and 18th overall with a 24.26 finish.
Shepard and Seebeck represented the Beavers in the Men's 400m Hurdles. Shepard took 2nd place in the event at 56.30, breaking his previous PR of 57.67 set at SCIAC Multi Dual 2 in early April. Seebeck placed 6th overall and recorded a season best time through his 59.48 finish.
In the mid-distance and distance events, the Beavers continued to show resilience and strength through high placement and broken PRs. Junior Julen Lujambio (Middletown, Conn. / Xavier) represented the Beavers in the 800m Run where he placed 11th overall with a 2:01.63 finish. Moreover, Lujambio successfully defeated his previous PR of 2:03.53 set two weeks ago at SCIAC Multi Dual 2.
Kyle Piper (Lafayette, Colo. / Centaurus) led the Beavers in the 1500m Run, placing 7th out of 27 total entries with a 4:04.64 finish. The sophomore's impressive run broke his previous PR of 4:13.05 from SCIAC Multi Dual 1 by nearly 10 seconds. Freshman Jonathan Bennett (Englewood, Colo. / Kent Denver School) also competed in the 1500m event and placed 12th overall at 4:11.40, breaking his previous PR of 4:13.59 from SCIAC Multi Dual 1. Senior Gaurav Phanse (Fremont, Calif. / Dublin) placed 21st in the event, recording a season's best at 4:27.31, while Lujambio followed close behind in 22nd with a 4:29.99 finish. Closing out the 1500m Run were freshman Pablo Baker Peral (Pasadena, Calif. / La Cañada) and sophomore Jordan Otsby (Brea, Calif. / Brea Olinda) who placed 26th at 4:48:32 and 27th at 4:51.26 respectively.
In the final distance event, Kyle Lethander (Dayton, Ohio / Oakwood) participated in his first 5000m Run of the season and placed 4th out of 16 total entries with a 15:43.94 finish. Freshman Rohun Agrawal (Cupertino, Calif. / Monta Vista) also competed in the 5000m Run, placing 10th overall at 16:15.84. Additionally, junior Adnan Contractor (Watchung, N.J. / Watchung Hills Regional) participated in his first 5000m Run of the season, placing 15th with a 17:49.42 finish.
Men's track later closed out the meet's running event in the 4x400m Relay. Team members Paulino, Jiang, freshman Josh Saha (Rye, N.Y. / Hackley School) and junior Nate Lopez (Jurupa Valley, Calif. / Patriot) represented the Beavers in the highly competitive event. The quartet placed 3rd in the relay with a 3:33.80 finish.
Freshmen duo Daniel Amelinez-Robles (Madison, Wisc. / James Madison Memorial) and Lucas Lanzendorf (Leominster, Mass. / Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science) represented the Beavers in the men's field events. Starting off with shot put, Amelinez-Robles placed 5th with an 11.95m throw, while Lanzendorf set a new PR of 10.44m and placed 8th in the event. In discus, Amelinez-Robles clinched 2nd place with a 38.17m throw and Lanzendorf finished 13th through his 26.92m throw. Finishing the field events with hammer throw, Amelinez-Robles placed 4th overall with a 37.71m throw, breaking his previous PR of 34.68m from Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers this past February. Lanzendorf placed 11th in the hammer throw at 24.72m, also breaking his previous PR of 21.23m set at SCIAC Multi Dual 2.
Head Coach Kelli Blake and the men's track and field team will be training for two weeks before heading to Whittier College for the SCIAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships (Apr 30–May 1). Visit gocaltech.com and thesciac.org for all championship information.
