LOS ANGELES – The Caltech track & field teams descended on the campus of Occidental College on Saturday, where they competed at the annual Oxy Distance Carnival & Spring Break Classic. The meet was contested by athletes from Division I, II and III programs, along with competitors from collegiate clubs and California community college teams, among others. By the day's end, the Beavers recorded a number of impressive individual performances in addition to multiple personal records.
One of the most monumental showings among the track events came in the women's 5,000 meter race, where sophomore Sophie Dalfonzo placed 18th among 109 total athletes. The New Jersey native led the charge for Caltech, crossing the line at a scorching time of 18:00.00 minutes exactly. Following her was first-year Gigi Pistilli, who placed 28th with a time of 18:12.37 — the third-fastest time in Caltech history — and senior Lauren Garriques, who was 44th overall after finishing with a personal-best 18:40.10.
Leading the Beavers in the men's 1500m was sophomore Jonathan Bennett, who crossed the line at 4:12.58 seconds, good for 54th out of 138 runners. Behind him was sophomore Miles Jones, who earned a 65th place finish (4:16.94).
The women's 1500m was highlighted by newcomer Elisa Grillo, who placed 33rd among 87 competitors with a time of 5:04.71. Trailing her was Junior Katy Chu, who finished 45th overall with a personal record time of 5:11.74.
First-year Elyes Serghine recorded the best time of his collegiate career in the men's 800 meter race. The Fremont, California native nearly broke 2 minutes, crossing the line at 2:00.49 for 39th place among 89 athletes. Senior Julen Lujambio was not far behind, running 2:02.70 for 50th overall.
As night fell over Jack Kemp Stadium, six Beavers ran in the men's 5000m race, with junior Joey Litvin finishing in 14:56.20 for 40th place among 235 runners. Senior Gaurav Phanse finished third place in the sixth section with a 15:40.35 finish ahead of sophomore Thomas MacLean (15:55.39). And sophomore Rohun Agrawal won the Section #8 race with a 15:52.80 time, about 15 seconds ahead of the next-best finisher. Junior Ryan Chan and first-year Jacob Wolmer also represented Caltech in that section, finishing fifth and seventh out of the 21 runners on the track.
Also of significance was the performance from junior Meg Robertson, who made damage in the throwing events after breaking the school record in the hammer throw last weekend. She heaved a 41.73-meter throw on her longest attempt, earning her fifth place overall. Sophomore Rucheng Pan competed as well, topping out at 29.27 meters. Sophomore Daniel Amelinez-Robles earned third place with a 41.47m throw, followed by fellow Beavers Subham Sahoo (30.60m) and David Castillo (25.69m).
Sophomore Emily Hu threw the greatest distance in the women's discus event, slinging it 25.94 meters on her final attempt. Pan threw for 21.07 meters in the same contest.
Robertson also competed in the shot put, where she placed seventh out of 23 total athletes with a 9.68m throw. Behind the junior was sophomore Pan, who threw for 9.28m — good for tenth place.
Head Coach Kelli Blake and the Beavers will be back in action on Friday, Mar. 17 at the Redlands Invitational. Follow the team on Instagram and Twitter.
