Wesley Methum
Wesley Methum, Brint Laubach and Daniel Rush finished first, second and third in the men's 10,000 meters, with just .15 seconds separating them.

TMU Men's Track & Field leads after first day of GSAC Championships

4/29/2022 1:34:00 AM

By: Tim Heiduk, Assistant Athletic Director, Events and Communications
TMU Track & Field made a statement on the opening day of the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships on Thursday, winning four events, while the Mustang men currently sit atop the team standings.
 
Wesley Methum repeated as GSAC men's 10,000-meter champion (32:27.12) and Caleb Pouliot won the men's pole vault championship with a mark of 4.60 meters.
 
Micaiah Scott earned her second-straight GSAC crown in the women's javelin (38.35 meters), while the TMU quartet of Mariah Briceno, Arianna Ghiorso, Hannah Fredericks and Ellen Palmgren won the women's 4x800 meter relay in a time of 9:43.62.
 
Methum won a 10,000-meter race that was perhaps the most-closely contested of the day, with Brint Laubach (32:27.21) and Daniel Rush (32:27.27) finishing right behind him in second and third respectively.  
All three Mustangs held leads at some point over the final six laps. Rush first passed Laubach before Methum surged to the front with a few laps remaining. The trio was level with one another with 50 yards left, only for Methum to move back ahead to win the event for the second-consecutive year.
 
"The plan was to just stick together, run about 77 seconds per lap up front and finish with the top-three spots," Methum said. "Daniel, Brint and I traded off the lead every couple laps and worked together to run mid-32 minutes.
 
"The love that this team has for each other is seen in so many different ways throughout the day – in racing, conversation and all sorts of other aspects. All by the Lord's strength."
 
Pouliot, the NAIA's top pole vaulter of the season with a best mark of 5.05 meters, cleared 4.60 meters on his opening vault to win the event.
 
He then passed on the next two heights before being unable to clear 4.90 meters, all of which came after he finished fifth in the discus (37.32 meters).
 
"I finished the discus then went straight into vaulting," Pouliot said. "I was trying to remind myself to have fun with it and give it all to God.
 
"My rhythm was off today but I'm excited to get back to practice and prepare for nationals."  
Scott was able to repeat as women's javelin champion despite tweaking her hamstring in warmups and having three of her four events happening simultaneously.
 
"It was a very challenging day but I feel so blessed by the Lord," Scott said. "I thought I wouldn't be able to compete but then Coach Amie Schroeder, without even knowing I had hurt myself, encouraged me to remember I was competing for an Audience of One. That encouraged me to start off the meet strong and give God my best despite the unforeseen challenge."
 
In addition to her javelin title, Scott place third in the long jump (5.00 meters), seventh in the women's pole vault (2.50 meters) and had the third-best qualifying time in the 100-meter hurdles (16.23 seconds) to earn a spot in Friday's finals.
 
"God really protected me and I feel so blessed that He allowed me to perform as I did throughout the day," Scott said.  
The women's 4x800 meter relay team won its race by more than 11 seconds, with Palmgren crediting Briceno for getting the group off to a fast start in the opening leg.
 
"A real key to how well we were able to do was Mariah coming up really big on the lead leg," Palmgren said. "She ran a PR and handed the baton off in the lead to set the tone for the rest of the relay. This really allowed Ari, Hannah and me to stay relaxed in the lead and keep as much energy as we could for a big day of racing tomorrow."
 
Each member of the women's 4x800 meter relay earned a spot in Friday's 800-meter finals, with Fredericks posting the best qualifying time of 2:26.24.
 
"We are all praising God for such a beautiful day and for giving us this opportunity to come out and worship Him in our running together," Palmgren said.  
Eli Szumera (men's javelin – 50.29 meters), Jayk Kelton (men's long jump – 6.44 meters) and the men's 4x800 meter relay (Rocky Rowedder, Connor Ybarra, Domenic Ghiorso, Andrew Cross – 8:00.93) all finished second to pick up a valuable eight points each.
 
In the women's 10,000 meters, Sophie Southerden (37:45.28), Kimberly Page (37:54.10) and Autumn Nootbaar (38:18.87) finished second through fourth in an exciting race.
 
Nootbaar led for several laps, until being passed by the ultimate race winner from Westmont. Southerden then made a move with three laps to go to surge up to first place, before the Westmont runner re-took pole position with a lap remaining to win.
 
In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Colton Low (9:58.62), JJ Duarte (10:00.17), Ryan Harris (10:02.55) and Nate Day (10:02.98) finished in fourth through seventh places to earn team points.
 
In the women's event, Bianca Rivas (13:19.59) and Megan Turner (13:42.98) placed five and sixth respectively.
 
Josh Williamson finished third in the men's discus (38.45 meters), with Eli Szumera (36.62 meters) a few spots behind in sixth.
 
Blake Spomer placed sixth in the men's pole vault with a best mark of 4.00 meters.
 
After the first day of competition, the TMU men have 89 points, seven more than second-placed and defending GSAC champion Arizona Christian University. The Master's women are in third place with 55 points, seven behind Westmont College in second and 17 behind leaders William Jessup.

Jayk Kelton
 
The Mustangs will have more opportunities to earn points on Friday, with five Mustangs qualifying for the 12-person men's 1500-meter finals.
 
Andrew Cross (4:11.40), Zach Garey (4:11.95), Davis Boggess (4:12.76) and Rush (4:12.92) were the top-four finishers in heat two, while they will be joined by Anthony Ghiorso who placed fourth in heat one (4:12.55).
 
In the same event for the women, four Mustangs qualified for Friday's finals. Palmgren (4:51.73) and Elizabeth Radmilovich (4:52.42) qualified from heat one, with Fredericks (5:01.58) and Ghiorso (5:01.61) booking their spots from heat two.
 
Three Mustangs will race in the men's 800-meter finals – Garey (1:57.87), Anthony Ghiorso (1:57.94) and Domenic Ghiorso (1:58.86).
 
Szumera is currently third in the men's decathlon with 2766 points, just 16 points behind second-place.
 
He recorded marks of 12.03 seconds in the 100 meters, 5.38 meters in the long jump, 11.30 meters in the shot put, 1.70 meters in the high jump and 56.08 seconds in the 400 meters. His shot put and high jump marks were the best among decathlon competitors on the day.

Eli Szumera
 
Seanna Nalbandyan had the top qualifying time in the women's 100-meter hurdles (15.29 seconds) and is set to compete along with Scott.
 
On the second and final day of the GSAC Championships, the meet will resume with the decathlon at 10:30 a.m. Field events will start back up at noon, with track events resuming at 1 p.m.
 
Follow along with the LIVE RESULTS or watch the LIVE STREAM.
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