Stanford Invitational
Fast Times by Woolf, Morales Lead Several Cal Poly Standouts in Bay Area
4/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Cal Poly juniors Nick Woolf and Luis Morales ran to career-best times in their respective races in the Bay Area on Friday, highlighting numerous impressive performances from several members of the Mustang track and field team at four separate meets being held around the state.
At the Stanford Invitational (featuring 109 universities), Woolf led Section 3 of the 3,000-meter steeplechase all the way, winning the 16-runner event with a time of 8 minutes, 48.91 seconds. In doing so, Woolf — the back-to-back defending Big West Conference champion — took 7.06 seconds off his previous peak, all while moving up to No. 8 in school history.
Additionally, competing in the second section, senior teammate Blake Ahrold put forth a 9:04.31.
Also on Cobb Track, Mustang junior Ashley Windsor clocked a 1,500 PR, finishing as the Section 6 runner-up in 4:25.78. Cal Poly junior Sara Van Dyke was close behind her, coming in fourth at 4:27.12.
Meanwhile, at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival, Morales came in fifth place in a 5,000-meter field featuring 176 competitors within Cox Stadium, at 14:10.62. He was about six seconds away from entering the program's all-time top-10 list.
Wichita State sophomore Brady Johnson was only 44 hundredths off the meet record, prevailing at 14:03.58.
Cal Poly placed five others in the top 55, as well: freshman Swarnjit Boyal (in 17th at 14:22.51), junior Tyler Huntley (21st, 14:25.01), freshman Mikey Giguere (24th, 14:26.03), junior Al Gamez Jr. (36th, 14:31.55) and sophomore Clayton Hutchins (53rd, 14:38.71).
In the women's 5,000, sophomore Molly Haar was 13th among the 123 entered, at 17:02.43. Haar was followed by sophomore Kylie Nishisaka (in 31st at 17:20.84), freshman Sydney Szabo (32nd, 17:24.50) and junior Michelle Read (54th, 17:45.39). Eastern Washington sophomore Sarah Reiter set an SFSDC record, crossing in 16:36.28.
Morales' showing wasn't even the only top-five finish from Cal Poly at the venue, either.
Freshman Garrett Migliozzi came in fifth place out of 114 men in the 1,500, at 3:49.85. Taking a fast section, CSUN junior Anass Zouhry established a meet-record pace of 3:45.13.
Fellow first-year Mustang Logan Marshall added a steeplechase time of 9:13.29 in San Francisco, cutting 19 seconds off his performance in San Luis Obispo a week ago to earn 12th amid a grouping of 53. He was trailed by sophomore David Galvez (in 18th at 9:22.11) and another freshman, Devon Grove (29th, 9:31.84).
Cal Poly junior Annie Whitford came in 29th out of 44 in the women's steeplechase, at 11:36.87.
Elsewhere, after Day 1 of the Westmont-hosted Sam Adams Combined Events Invitational, Cal Poly sophomore Jessica Rasmussen is in a team-leading sixth place for the heptathlon among the student-athletes in Montecito (15th overall among 25 total women), with a score of 2,445.
At the top of the leaderboard, a tight battle is being waged between two Big West alumni close to home: Barbara Nwaba (UC Santa Barbara-turned-Santa Barbara Track Club) leads with 3,769 points, just 12 ahead of Sharon Day-Monroe (a Cal Poly grad now with ASICS).
In the decathlon, sophomore Ted Scranton will enter the second day in ninth place altogether (fourth among collegians), compiling a total of 3,461. His outing included two PRs, as he shot-putted 46 feet, 4 inches before clearing 6-1.5 in the high jump.
Farther south, at the Legends Invitational hosted by UCLA in Drake Stadium, sophomore Arnie Sambel was third in the discus, posting a mark of 162-5, slightly ahead of fellow sophomore Nate Vickers (in fifth at 153-1).
Mustang junior Nick Bultman added a fifth-place hammer throw of 167-4.
For continued live results throughout Saturday's action, check back at the schedule page on GoPoly.com.
