Jesse Summers
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At the Big West Conference Championships, victories in the 5,000-meter race by junior Nick Woolf and sophomore Molly Haar helped Cal Poly take third place overall at the meet held at UC Riverside this weekend.
While Woolf edged the second-place competitor by less than one second to secure his top time, Haar blew away the competition by racing nearly seven seconds faster than the runner-up, with a blistering time of 17:31.75.
Haar previously recorded a 16:56.02 at the Bryan Clay invitational earlier in April, the top time for her team on the season. Despite performing short of her personal best, Haar still managed to outperform the rest of the field.
Freshman Sydney Szabo, junior Meghan Breadmore and sophomores Kylie Nishisaka and Michelle Read all placed in the top 10 in the 5,000-meter behind their first-place teammate.
Junior Ashley Windsor placed second in the women’s 1,500-meter run, finishing with a 4:18.54 time, her new personal best.
On the men’s side of the 1,500-meter run, 13 of the top 32 times were held by Cal Poly runners, well ahead of UC Santa Barbara’s six — the second highest amount by a team. Some notable times behind Woolf’s first-place finish were sophomore Dimitri Voytilla’s 14:45.02, good for fourth place, followed by a fifth-place 14:46.88 by sophomore Clayton Hutchins.
Junior Kendal Nielsen earned a third-place spot in the women’s triple jump by landing 40 feet, 10.5 inches on her final attempt. Not only did she land her personal best with that jump, but also earned herself a spot in the school record book — her jump was fourth on the all-time list.
Sophomore Ben Hartinger finished third in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a 0:14.53 time.
Long Beach State took first place on the weekend, while UC Santa Barbara secured the runner-up spot.
In all, 10 Mustangs earned All-Conference honors, while 13 set new personal records.
The NCAA West Regional Meet will be held in Austin, Texas the last weekend of May, beginning on Thursday, May 28. Cal Poly athletes are waiting for invitations to the meet.