Men's Track and Field 3/16/2024 9:26:00 PM

TRK | Rayna Stanziano 1500 Meter Event Winner, 20 PRs, and 5 Heat Winners

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Track and Field team won an overall event, broke numerous PRs, and multiple heats.

The Women's Team:
In the 1500 meters, Rayna Stanziano won the overall event with a time of 4:22.05, 0.53 seconds ahead of the USF runner to take second place. Molly Dreher was the second Gael to finish in fourth place, with a time of 4:22.90, and is second in all time for SMC.

Kaylee Barnes won her heat in section three with a time of 4:42.49, along with Lauren Buckley who clocked in at 5:05.66 also receiving a new PR.

Elizabeth Nip and Britney Perea competed in the 800 meters both winning their heat. Nip won section five heat with a time of 2:22.73 and PRed and Perera won section eight with a time of 2:31.01.

The Gaels continued to have a remarkable day with tons of runners hitting new PRs. Starting off with Jaden DeSouza, she competed in the 400 meter hurdle and received a time of 1:05.49 and is now in the school record book.

Moving on to the 1500 meter event, Eleanor Jepsen PRed, coming in with a time of 4:45.79. In Jepsen's last lap, she ended up falling, but still closed the gap to clock in with a personal best.

A quote from Head Coach Marty Kinsey after today's events, "This was a big day for the ladies. Our focus going in was competing to win every heat that we were in. Compete to win. We did that very well and walked away with five heat wins, a school record, and an overall champion in Rayna Stanziano in the 1500. As a result, focusing on that strategy nearly everyone ran personal best. With 14 women running prs, including a stunner by Eleanor Jepsen, who took a hard fall in the last lap, got up, and still closed the gap to run a lifetime best."

The Men's Team:
Five men competed in the 800 meter, with Spencer Wirshing coming in as the first Gael to finish in fifth place overall, with a time of 1:53.24. Only two spots behind Wirshing, in seventh, was Jason Habash clocking in at 1:53.63. Habash was finished second in his heat. Freshman Alexandro Alvarez secured 14th overall, Eric Martinez took 19th, and in 20th was Noah Pagaran.

Two out of the eight men who competed in the 1500 meter finished in the top 20. Junior Curtis Volf finished in 16th with a time of 3:55.08, his new PR, along with Thomas Osborne finishing in 20th with a time of 3:57.08 also hitting a new PR.

A quote from Head Coach Harlan Lopez, "Our guys ran strong races at Sac State and competed well in their section. We talk a lot pre race about trying to win the section and the time will come with that. I feel the team listened and followed the race plans and overall had a very solid day. We are looking forward to our next meet at Mike Fanelli where we expect our guys to continue the success we have had this season."

Outstanding Women's PRs: