The University of Redlands hosted its first track & field of the year by welcoming the men’s and women’s teams of Fresno Pacific University to Ashel Cunningham Track.  Although the Bulldogs boasted outstanding individual marks, they came up short in the dual meet scores, with the men losing 83-97 and the women falling 84.5-97.5.

For the men, senior Kevin Vollmer (Van Nuys, CA) continues to impress during his final campaign at Redlands by winning the 100m Dash with a time of 10.87 to land among the Redlands top-10.  He also took first place in the 200m Dash at 21.74.  Senior Chris Smith (Fremont, CA) won the 1500m Run with a time of 4:10.62, to go along with sophomore Jake Baechle’s (Aurora, OH) first-place showing in the 800m Run at 1:57.53.  Sophomore Richard Valenti (Palm Desert, CA) added to his successful season so far with three first-place finishes, as he earned a Redlands top-10 mark in the Hammer at 155’ 0” to complement his winning marks of 154’ 2” in the Discus and 46’ 11 ¾” in the Shot Put.  Junior Brad Morrow (Williams, CA) added to the team’s strong field performances with his winning mark of 177’ 10” in the Javelin, which also lands among the Bulldogs’ best in school history.

On the women’s side, Redlands gained another exciting showing by senior Natalie Calderon (shown in photo; Pasadena, CA), who broke the Ted Runner Stadium/Ashel Cunningham Track record for the Long Jump with her first-place leap of 19’ 4”.  She also earned the fifth-best time in Redlands history in the 100m Hurdles, winning the event in her collegiate debut at 15.97, while taking first in the 200m Dash at 25.72.  Freshman Kortney Watring (Riverside, CA) added to her rookie accomplishments with her second-place leap of 17’ 1 ¼” in the Long Jump, which improves upon her previous Redlands top-10 mark.  Freshman Mackenzie Smith (Hoquiam, WA) won the Javelin with an NCAA Provisional distance of 129’ 11” as she now sits third all-time at Redlands.  She also landed among the best in Bulldog history with her third-place showing in the High Jump at 4’ 11 ¾”.  In addition, sophomore Rachel Donnelly (Ojai, CA) won the Hammer Throw with the third-best toss in Redlands history at 126’ 1”.  Finally, freshman Katie Ostrinski (Riverside, CA) won the 3000m Steeplechase with a time of 12:03.58, which ranks fourth all-time at Redlands.

The Bulldog track & field teams look forward to the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on April 5 at 9:30 a.m.