Event: Payton Jordan Invitational
Where: Stanford, Calif.
When: Saturday, all day
Who to watch: Kaitlin Gregg is on the cusp of being considered one of the top distance runners in the region.
“She’s on regional lists and has decent spots,” said women’s coach Deanne Vochatzer. “This is one of her last opportunities this year to be selfish and get a good mark.”
The senior from Davis is coming off a phenomenal performance at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational last weekend. She took 12th overall in the 3,000-meter race, and moved to second on the all-time UC Davis list with a time of 9:30.94.
Did you know? The Aggies haven’t competed in the Payton Jordan Invitational since 2008. At that race, recent UC Davis grad and current distance coach Kim Conley set a school record in the 5,000 with a time of 16:23.58.
Preview: Though the Aggies have put together a respectable April, they hope they haven’t peaked quite yet.
That’s because they have something bigger in mind than just running fast at invitational meets.
“We are trying to have a championship season and peak at exactly the right time,” said men’s coach Jon Vochatzer. “We want to be at the top of our game in the last couple weeks of the year. Our training has been designed for that.”
For the track and field squads, the time is now.
Two weeks separate the Aggies from Big West Conference Championships held in Northridge, Calif. After that are the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in Austin, Tex.
This Saturday, several long distance runners have a great opportunity to put up some great times and qualify for championships.
“The distance crew is trying to get [nationally recognized] marks,” Deanne said. “This is their marquee event to get some great times.”
Jon echoes the importance of this opportunity.
“We want to keep marching forward and preparing for the conference meet,” Jon said. “We have two more weeks to get our marks up.”
– Matt Wang
