Track & Field records nine All-SCIAC marks

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Author: Lucy Feickert

It was nothing but clear skies and warm sunshine on Bill Henry Track this past Friday and Saturday when Cal Lutheran hosted the track and field SCIAC Championship meet. Occidental finished sixth overall, boasting some notable individual performances along the way.

Charlie Sauter (senior) came in second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase behind a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) senior. Sauter’s time for the race was 9:23.79 minutes, a personal best, but just shy of his personal goal for the season.

“My season goal has always been to run 9:18 [minutes], which would put me at the top 10,” Sauter said. “But in terms of reaching that, I was really happy with my performance.”

Sauter came into the final championship event of his collegiate career ready to win.

“Going in I wanted to win, that was my goal, and that’s what I was saying, ‘I’m gonna win this race,’ and I did pretty much everything in my power to do so,” he said.

Junior Ayana-Malkia Foster ran the 400-meter individually and the 4 x 400-meter relay with fellow teammates Danielle Lyons (junior), Jenny Quilty (sophomore) and Rachael Hinkel (first-year). Foster posted a 58.45-second 400-meters, which was not quite what she wanted.

“The 400 didn’t go the way I wanted it to, mostly because I wanted to upset, and I’ve been trying to get to 57 [seconds] since forever,” Foster said. “I have a problem with focusing on my own race, so I was kind of upset when I didn’t break my high school personal best. Coming off of that race, I was just mad, I was really mad, and everyone was like ‘you did so good,’ and I was like ‘but I didn’t.’”

For Foster, the relay, in which Occidental placed fourth with a time of 4:05.16 minutes, was a second chance at success after she was less than thrilled with her 400-meter run.

Other athletes posted personal bests at the meet including Deanna Dupuy (senior) and Colin Smith (sophomore), who both competed in the 1,500-meter run and finished with times of 4:40.09 and 3:56.88 minutes, respectively. Hinkel had a personal best of 15.39 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles while Jesse Wong (sophomore) finished the 400-meter hurdle in 54.30 seconds. Lyons posted a time of 11:33.13 minutes in the 3000-meter steeplechase, earning her fourth place.

Sauter reflected on on the team he is leaving behind, which he sees as ready for the future.

“I think the team is in a very good place, there are very good people there who are really motivated,” he said.

Both teams are set to host the Oxy Invite on May 4. The following weekend is the Oxy-Lu Last Chance Qualifier for the National championships, and event that will again be hosted by Cal Lutheran at Occidental’s Bill Henry Track.

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