AZUSA, Calif. — A small contingent of Saint Mary's women took part in the annual Bryan Clay Invite over the last two days at Azusa Pacific, and history was made. Jaden DeSouza successfully finished the first heptathlon in Saint Mary's history, capping it off with a win in the 800m to stamp her spot in the record books.
 
When the spring season began roughly one month ago, DeSouza had never thrown a javelin or shotput, had never competed in the long jump or high jump, had never hurdled, and had never raced a 200m. All of that changed in preparation of Wednesday and Thursday's heptathlon, and DeSouza competed and finished every event. All seven events saw some impressive marks that DeSouza had to go up against, but she set the pace in the 800m, winning the event by four seconds with her time of 2:19.52 to vault herself four spots in the standings. She finished 17^th overall in her group of athletes, a valiant effort that no athlete in school history had attempted.
 
DeSouza was not the only Gael in action in Azusa, as six other Gaels ran on Thursday afternoon and into the evening. Klara Frih was the fastest Gael in the 800m, setting a personal record with her time of 2:11.87, which was second best in her heat, behind Presley Timmons of Idaho State. Malia Gay was also second in her heat of the 800m, with a personal record time of 2:13.84. Both Frih and Gay bested their previous marks by one second.
 
Four Gaels ran in the 5000m, with scattered times throughout the late afternoon and into the evening. Rayna Stanziano stole the headlines in the evening, breaking the Saint Mary's record in her first 5000m race of her career, finishing in 16:06.65, which was a whopping 60 seconds faster than the previous record set by Sylvia Ingram at the end of March. Speaking of Ingram, she finished tenth overall in her heat of the 5000m with a mark of 17:15.96. Molly Dreher set what would have been the SMC record had it not been for Stanziano, at the time becoming the first Gael to run the 5000m in under 17 minutes with her time of 16:53.37, which was less than a second away from a victory in her heat. Alize Hartke finished ninth in her heat with a 17:39.75, which was a new personal best.
 
The turnaround for the Gaels is quick, as they return to the Bay Area and will send the rest of their runners to the Johnny Mathis Invitational on Saturday at San Francisco State. The women will then be off until the end of the month, while the men have a meet in Salinas at Hartnell College set for next Saturday.