Mustang women finish first, men place second at ACU Invitational

The strong start to the 2021 TMU Track & Field season continued on Saturday, as the women's team placed first and the men's squad finished second at the ACU Invitational in Chandler, Arizona.
 
The Mustangs won 12 events and set 22 personal records on the day. The women's 133 team points edged host Arizona Christian by 13, while the men's 145 points positioned them in second behind ACU (267 points).
 
"It was a great day for TMU Track & Field," Master's head coach Zach Schroeder said. "For our sprinters and field event athletes, today was a great chance to get marks and debut in several events.
 
"For the distance squad, this meet served as an opportunity to practice the pack running we hope to put together at the cross country national championships in April."
 
The highlight of the day for the Mustangs was Eli Szumera, who broke all TMU school records in the throwing events and won the men's javelin with a mark of 49.28m.
 
Bethany Pouliot broke her own Master's record in the women's triple jump, which she set on Feb. 13, leaping 10.21m. She also won the women's high jump with a mark of 1.32m.
 
Arianna Ghiorso won the women's 5,000 meters in 17:59.06, ahead of second-placed Ellen Palmgren (19:19.60) and fourth-placed Brooke Milam (19:34.44), who all set personal records.
 
"Ari ran a lifetime best without competition," Schroeder said. "She's coming off the best winter base she's ever had and is racing with confidence.
 
"Ellen and Brooke worked together to run a conservative race. Both ladies PR'd, which shows the strength of their fitness. I'm looking forward to seeing how they all do next weekend."
 
TMU also claimed the fifth through eighth spots in the event.
 
"Kimberly Page did an amazing job of pacing a group of four lady Mustangs and helping them all set new lifetime bests in the 5k," Schroeder said.
 
The top-eight finishers in the men's 5,000 meters were all Mustangs, with Wesley Methum (14:56.71) winning the event, crossing the line nearly 12 seconds before teammate Daniel Rush (15:08.53).
 
"In the men's 5k, our top-five guys took turns leading the race," Schroeder said. "Our plan was to keep the group together start to finish. We were successful through eight laps but weren't able to keep it together the final mile.
 
"Today was a good work day for our guys and we hope to continue to improve our pack running as we look forward to cross country nationals."
 
After breaking the TMU record in the 60 meter hurdles at the Mustangs' first meet of the season two weeks ago, Seanna Nalbandyan won all three of her events on Saturday. The senior crossed the line first in the 100 meter hurdles (15.61 seconds), the 200 meters (26.91 seconds) and the 4x400 meters (4:15.89).
 
"It was fun combining some of our quicker distance athletes with our sprinters to piece together women's and men's 4x400m relays," Schroeder said. "Our women's 4x400 comprised of Ellen, Mariah Briceno, Ari and Seanna won the event. Our men's 4x400 of Cameron Fooks, Kevin Pacheco, Davis Boggess and Zach Garey finished second."
 
Fooks finished first in the men's 400 meters (51.56 seconds), while Pacheco won the men's 800 meters (1:59.42) for the second-straight meet, finishing six seconds ahead of second-placed Rush.
 
Megan Carbajal won the women's long jump with a season-best mark of 4.50m. Micaiah Scott took home first place in the women's javelin, throwing 26.63m in her debut in the event.
 
Master's Track & Field is scheduled to return to competition on March 6 at the Central California Invitational hosted by Fresno Pacific.