Event: Mondo Invite
Where: Hornet Stadium – Sacramento, Calif.
When: Saturday 10 a.m. (field), 1:25 p.m. (track)
Who to watch: Junior Chid Onyewuenyi shattered the school record in the hammer two weeks ago with a mark of 55.92m. She backed that up last week with a throw of 55.16m, which was also better than the previous record.
Onyewuenyi’s mark in the hammer qualified her for regionals, joining fellow thrower Ashley Hearn, who qualified in the discus (47.48m) at the first meet of the season.
“It is a great feeling to be going to regionals,” said Onyewuenyi. “To be there with one of my closest friends and teammates is a plus.“
Did you know? Five Aggies currently sit on the national lists, with distance runners Kim Conley and Lorin Scott leading the charge. Conley sits at No. 10 in the 5,000m (16:17.51), while Scott is at No. 31 (16:44.77).
Hurdler Sirena Williams is tied at 32nd for the 100m hurdles (13.80), while Hearn is No. 35 in the discus. Onyewuenyi is No. 26 in the hammer.
Preview: While Conley and Scott were impressive in their 5,000m season debuts, they won’t be contesting in that event this weekend. Instead, expect them to be nearly as impressive in the 1,500m.
“I’m going to try to go for the 1,500m,” said Scott. “I’m not sure which one I’m going to focus on later, though. We will just have to see what the team needs for conference and what people are going to run at regionals.“
Last season, Scott ran a 4:27.84 to miss regionals by an agonizingly thin .04 seconds. Conley ran a 4:24.30 to qualify, but could not compete due to food poisoning.
The Aggies look to qualify even more athletes for regionals this weekend, which will be run on the track that hosted the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials.
“We have trained so hard and the results are finally peeking their way through,” said Onyewuenyi. “We just need to keep throwing far. Hopefully, it’s far enough to earn our tickets to Eugene [to compete in the West Regional].“
– Alex Wolf-Root
