FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The UC Riverside Highlanders Track & Field squad opened up their season on Friday, January 17, at the Lumberjack Team Challenge in Flagstaff, AZ, with both the men's and women's teams finishing 5th in the team scoring. "I was pleased with the overall results considering it's our first meet after the holiday break and we are competing at altitude," said Director of Track & Field, Nate Browne. "The team was connected across event groups and it seemed to help raise some performances to a higher level."
Headlining the meet performances was Tanner Anderson, who contributed to two team wins. He crossed the finished line of the 600m run at 1:19.77; a UCR Indoor School Record. Ninety minutes later, Anderson anchored the men's 4x400m alongside teammates Ethan Van Setten, Jose Cruz and Ryan Ayale with a winning time of 3:19.32. On the women's side, sophomore Alonna Johnson, clocked the second fastest time in school history in 1:37.85 (second best all-time for UCR).
Also winning an individual championship was Purnima Gunarathna, who was the only athlete to clear 5'5 ¾" (1.67m) in the high jump. She also made her lifetime debut in the triple jump, and her mark of 11.40m (37' 4 ¾") is now seventh all-time at UCR. Teammate Hana Johnson bested that with a 4th place, 11.72m (38' 5 ½") leap in the event.
In the women's long jump, Asia Mallory made her lifetime debut indoors for the Highlanders. She managed 5.63m (18 53/4") which is good for 6th all-time at UCR. Mallory came back to earn the third fastest 60m dash time in UCR indoor history, clocking 7.64 seconds (altitude corrected to 7.68 seconds). In men's jumps, Brian Nnoli nailed a 14.24m (46'8 ¾") triple jump which is good enough to be seventh all-time at UCR.
In the throwing circle, a pair of strong scoring efforts were turned in by Senior, Natalie Mitchell, and Freshman, Shiloh Corrales-Nelson. Mitchell tossed the shot 13.63m (44' 8 ½") for 5th in the shot put and Corrales-Nelson made her Highlander debut, throwing the 20 lbs. weight 15.74m (51'71/2").
"With one school record and seven other all-time top-10 marks, I would say we're walking away from this season opener feeling accomplished," commented Coach Browne.
