PC: Jordan Ostby, Men's Track and Field
WHITTIER, Calif. (May 1, 2022) – The women's track and field team concluded the 2022 SCIAC Track and Field Championships with eight new bests, including two broken school records in the 1500m Run and 4x400m Relay.
The day started off with the 4x100m Relay, where freshmen Sophia Elam (Medford, Ore. / North Medford), Isabela Ceniceros (Mukilteo, Wash. / Kamiak), Lily Randall (Astoria, Ore. / Astoria), and sophomore Meg Robertson (Nashville, Tenn. / Harpeth Hall) represented the Beavers. The quartet placed 8th in the event with a 55.29 finish. This is a new season best for the relay team, improving their 55.47 finish from SCIAC Multi Dual 2.
Following the relay, junior Lauren Garriques (Lake Forest, Ill. / Lake Forest) and graduate student Margaret Trautner (Houston, Texas / MIT) took on the 1500m Run finals. Garriques placed 9th overall as she crossed the finish line at 5:00.02, breaking her previous PR (Personal Record) of 5:04.06 from SCIAC Multi Dual 3. Trautner was victorious in the event with a first-place finish at 4:32.60, breaking and resetting her own school record for a third time this season. Moreover, the graduate student's performance now ranks 10th in the NCAA for Division III Outdoor Track and Field. Trautner later competed in the 800m Run finals, where she took 1st place once more with a 2:14.89 finish. Trautner's championship time now ranks 3rd on Caltech's all-time leaderboard, two places below her own school record of 2:11.51 from the Pomona-Pitzer Invite.
Later, Katy Chu (San Jose, Calif. / Saint Francis) represented the Beavers in the women's 5000m Run. The sophomore placed 19th in the event with a 20:18.09 finish. Afterwards, Randall, Garriques, Ceniceros, and Trautner participated in the 4x400m Relay. The quartet placed 6th overall with a 4:10.91 finish, setting a new school record for Caltech. The previous record was 4:14.70 and set nearly 20 years ago during the 2003 outdoor track season.
In the field events, the Beavers were represented once more by Robertson and freshmen Rucheng Pan (Brookfield, Wisc. / Brookfield East) and Emily Hu (Vancouver, B.C. / Crofton House) in women's shot put. Robertson placed 9th in the event with a 10.56m throw, recording a new season best that ranks 4th on the Caltech leaderboard. Pan took 12th place with a 9.93m throw, breaking her previous PR of 8.84m from SCIAC Multi Dual 2 by over 1 meter. Additionally, Pan's championship throw now ranks 7th on the Caltech leaderboard for this event. Closing out shot put for the Beavers, was Hu who placed 21st overall with a 6.87m throw.
The women's track and field team placed 6th in the 2022 SCIAC Championships with a total of 41 points. Head Coach Kelli Blake and the Beavers will be at the Oxy Invite this coming Saturday, May 7t. Visit GoCaltech.com for the meet's live stats and results.
