CLAREMONT, Calif. – Caltech Track & Field headed to Fritz B. Burns Stadium on Saturday for the CMS Rossi Relays and had a notable day with some new personal bests.
In a meet that hosted 19 different programs, the Beavers on the men's side of action put forth a very solid showing. Starting with the men's 4x400 meter relay, a Caltech squad of seniors Roy Jiang (Vancouver, B.C. / Southridge School), Josh Saha (Rye, N.Y. / Hackley School), Theirno Diallo (Loomis Chafee), and sophomore Tyler Gatewood (Corpus Christi, Texas / W.B. Ray) placed tenth in the competition with a time of 3:29.62 seconds out of the 23 total teams running that race.
In the pole vault event, the Beavers saw three top-10 finishes with junior Aaban Syed (Laurel, Md. / North County), first-year Brendan Rudberg, and first-year Lucas Smith (Hailey, Idaho / Wood River) placing seventh, ninth, and tenth respectively. Smith set a personal record in the competition with a height of 3.90 meters (12 feet 9.5 inches).
Senior Thomas MacLean (Redding, Calif. / Shasta) finished 34th in the massive 87-person pool of the men's 3000-meter race, setting a new personal record with a time of 9:04.55 seconds. This impressive performance shaved almost a full 10 seconds off his previous personal best.
On to the hammer throw where multiple Beavers set personal records in the event. Juniors Jadon Hale (Fort Collins, Colo. / Fossil Ridge), David Castillo (Johns Creek, Ga. / Chattahoochee), and first-year Maxwell Braithwaite (Webster, N.Y. / Webster Thomas) all set a new personal best. Hale finished 12th with a distance of 43.77 meters (143 feet 7 inches), Castillo finished 14th with a distance of 42.09 meters (138 feet 1 inch), and Braithwaite finished 15th with a distance of 41.85 meters (137 feet 4 inches).
Senior Daniel Amelinez-Robles (Madison, Wis. / James Madison Memorial) didn't set a personal best on Saturday, but he did finish as the top Caltech thrower in the competition. He placed ninth with a distance of 47.43 meters (155 feet 7 inches).
Moving to the women's side, the Beavers continued to set records, especially in the strength competitions. Multi-sport junior Sophia Steven (Broomfield, Colo. / Peak to Peak Charter) set a new personal best in the hammer throw, throwing 34.32 meters (112 feet 7 inches). Senior Emily Hu (Vancouver, B.C. / Crofton House) also set a career-high in distance thrown, throwing an impressive 42.94 meters (140 feet 10 inches), which was good enough for 12th place in the competition.
First-year Clara Stevens set her personal best in the discus throw event, throwing for a distance of 27.31 meters (89 feet 7 inches). Also setting a personal best was sophomore Maryan Malkosh (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Dana Hills) who sprinted in the women's 100-meter and collected a time of 15.41 seconds.
In the women's distance medley relay, Caltech's squad of Sophia Elam (Medford, Ore. / North Medford), Hypatia Hamkins (New York / The Brearley School), Elisa Grillo (Cypress, Texas / Bridgeland), and Sophie Dalfonzo (Fair Haven, N.J. / Biotechnology & Rumson-Fair Regional) placed ninth out of the 22 teams who raced with a time of 12:58.53 seconds.
Caltech Track & Field will resume action again fully next Saturday, March 1st where they will welcome a meet to South Field on the Fox Stanton Track right here in Pasadena for the SCIAC QuadCup #1. Action will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, but before that, pole vault only will be held at the University of La Verne on Friday with things getting underway at 1 p.m.
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