UC Riverside
Don Kirby Invitational
Anderson on Fire — Notches Third Straight UCR Program Record at Grand Valley State
2/16/2020 7:31:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
Jackson, Cook and A. Johnson All Nab School Records at New Mexico
Allendale, MI – It was an icy, snowy weekend at the "Big Meet" hosted by Grand Valley State University, but fortunately, the UC Riverside Highlanders were racing indoors.
Snow and sub-zero temperatures caused hours of delays for many programs competing in this high caliber venue, but the Highlanders would not be denied.
Tanner Anderson eviscerated UCR's 800m record, clocking a meet winning mark of 1:50.42, a lifetime best mark for him (indoors or outdoors). This also clinched the third school record for Anderson in as many meets. He already owns UCR's 400m and 600m mark and now has a clean sweep of the middle distance races.
"This was the strongest race of Tanner's young career," said Assistant Coach Rob Hansen. "He put himself in great position through 200m and through 400m. He seized control of the race just after the halfway point and was able to run away from the field in convincing fashion."
Arman Irani had a banner weekend himself, clinching the 7th fastest mark in UCR school history in the men's 5000m run. His mark of 14:34.82 was an 11 second lifetime best. He returned to action 24 hours later and knocked out a new 1-mile personal best, crossing the tape in 4:21.49.
"Arman's 5000m was the most complete race that I've seen him run on the track," Hansen added. "This run reminded me of his 5th place finish at the Big West Championships in the fall. He is extremely resilient and willing to hurt. To come back a notch a mini PR the next day proves he's scrappy and resilient as well."
A trio of women ran lifetime indoor bests in the 5000m on Friday evening, February 15, too.
Kiley Atwood led the way for the women stopping the clock at 17:40.50. She was followed closely by Haley Cabrera who crossed the line in 17:52.01 and Vanessa Gracian 17:56.63. Atwood and Cabrera's times are 8th and 10th in UCR program history in the 5000m.
"These three women absolutely battled this weekend," stated Hansen. "With the adversities we faced in travel, they had every opportunity to create an excuse, but they all chose to fight and fight they did. The pace got sluggish after 3k and Kiley jumped to the lead and made the race for everyone. Showing that kind of toughness is going to pay dividends in future races."
Two hours later, these three women were joined by Emily Sanchez in earning four lifetime bests in the 1-mile run. Cabrera led the group with a personal best 5:04.90 trailed closely by Sanchez's 5:12.27.
"To bounce back and snatch a PR, especially as big as Haley's run was, was inspiring. Couldn't be more proud of the group," Hansen concluded.
Albuquerque, NM – The Highlander sprints, jumps, hurdles and throws split from the distance group and headed west to the Don Kirby Invitational, hosted by the University of New Mexico. Kennady Jackson and Maya Cook led the charge at New Mexico in the 200m.
In heat two, Jackson sprinted home to a new UCR school record of 24.62. Roughly 20 minutes later, in section 14, Cook notched her fastest time as a Highlander, tying the newly formed school record 24.62 in winning her section. Because of altitude, the time adjusts to 24.69, .01 faster than former record holder Asha Giles.
"Kenady has been working her way back from some time off and her confidence is slowly building," Director of Track & Field Nate Browne said. "This record is something she's been chasing for a while; it was fun to see her finally catch it."
"For Maya to come out and run a definitive lifetime indoor best and tie the record was a bit of a surprise, but clearly not out of the realm of her ability," added Browne.
Alonna Johnson was next up on the school record parade. Johnson doubled back from a solid 400m performance (56.43), to earn her 1st school record. She stopped the clock at 1:37.17 seconds.
"Alonna came into this meet with a few different options on which races she could run," mentioned Browne. "She chose the more difficult path; she ran the 400m and quickly doubled back for the 600m. Her grittiness was on full display and she is making the tactical progress that we're looking for," he added.
In men's sprints, Ethan Van Setten ran a very strong double. He notched a 1:54.27 800m (which puts him 4th all-time at UCR less than 24 hours after he ran one of his best lifetime performances at 600m.
Highlander jumpers had a few standout performances; Ondrej Rapp jumped right at 7.00m (22'11.75") and Brian Nnoli earned a season's best 14.22m (46'8"). Hana Johnson set an indoor lifetime best in the triple jump at 12.07m, second All Time in the record books.
Final Thoughts: Director of Track & Field Nate Browne concluded the weekend with these sentiments:
"When we come to meets like the Don Kirby and the GVSU Big Meet, my expectations revolve around seeing kids execute in the big moment. These meets are high level and high intensity, similar to the MPSF Championships and the Big West Championships, so we expect these student-athletes to execute similar to the way they will on the championship stage. The majority of our groups were able to execute both mentally and physically, when the chips were on the table. It shows we're on the right track and I'm confident that we will have even more folks put it all together at the MPSF Championships in two weeks."
Up Next: The Highlanders will have the next week off. They travel to Seattle, WA to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Washington. Action kicks off on Friday February 28 at 12:00 p.m. PST.
