Sheila SobchikThe Cal Poly track and field team is gearing up for the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational at UCLA and the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut this weekend.
Six team members will be heading to Mt. SAC Friday through Sunday, and will compete with athletes from Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State and more.
The rest of the track and field team will compete at UCLA on Friday and Saturday, where it will meet with UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara.
There is a lot of attention on senior high jumper Sharon Day, who will compete at Mt. SAC. Day placed second Friday at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, where she cleared 6 feet.
Mustangs head coach Terry Crawford said Day is making a strong comeback after a foot injury suffered before last season.
“I think my jumping has been getting better and better every day,” Day said.
Javelin thrower Aris Borjas, who will be competing at Mt. SAC, is also a top competitor and has been throwing consistently, Crawford said.
“Look forward to a big throw from him this weekend,” Crawford said.
The Mustang distance relay team is also making great progress, most notably Phillip Reid and Evan Anderson, she said.
The distance crew of Anderson (1,600 meters), Chris Frazeur (400), Mike Perez (800) and Reid (1,600) finished third at the Texas Relays on Saturday with a time of 9 minutes, 54.5 seconds.
Julie Dufresne (shot put and discus) is also showing promise.
“I think Julie is another competitor having a breakout competition after having an up and down freshman year,” Crawford said.
This weekend will provide good opportunities for athletes to set standards for the Big West Conference Championships, she said. Crawford is confident that Cal Poly has a crew that can be successful at the conference meet as long as Joey Hauser, D.J. Price and Randy Samuel heal from their injuries, she said.
“The next three weeks are critical as we go into conference,” Crawford said.