Glendale, AZ – The Firestorm Track & Field program travelled just down the road from campus to Glendale Community College for the Gaucho Invite on Saturday afternoon.  On a weekend which featured the first opportunity for decathlete Manny Valenzuela to compete in a multi-event, the team received a balanced performance across all disciplines which featured multiple new personal records, shot put All-American TaHaj Acoff resetting his program record with a toss of 55 feet, and the 4x400 team hitting the NAIA "B" standard in the final event of the meet with a time of 3:17.96.

The weekend began with Valenzuela participating the seven event Heptathlon.  He finished seventh out of twelve competitors and set three new personal bests in the 60 meters, 1,000 meters, and in the Pole Vault.  Valenzuela will now prepare for his first decathlon which will be at Paradise Valley Community College on March 20-21 before setting his eyes on performing at the GSAC Track & Field Championships in April.

In addition to Acoff and the 4x400 team, the team received strong performances from their 1500 racers.  Four of the racers, Isaac Linan, Trevin Janssen, Peter Brown and Braxton Pingleton, surpassed the previous program record of 4:37 with Linan leading the group in a time of 4:25.13.  In the hurdles, Daniel Kpeh continued to drop his time in the 60-meter hurdles by running a time of 8.70, and John-Gabriel Lofredo ran a new personal best in the 600 with a time of 1:22.24 which is the second fastest time for the event in program history. 

Thoughts from Head Coach Brian Bell
"We are very pleased with how the team performed today.  All event groups looked very strong against some very good competition."

Manny Valenzuela Heptathlon Results – 7^th Place (3,776 points)
       60 Meters: 7.82 (613 points)
       Long Jump: 17-04.25 (439 points)
       Shot Put: 24-09.00 (339 points)
       High Jump: 5-04.25 (488 points)
       60 Meter Hurdles: 9.90 (560 points)
       Pole Vault: 13-02.5 (626 points)
       1000 Meters: 2:55.31 (711 points)
 
Top Track Finishers
60 Meters: Markeese Wright – 7.05
200 Meters: Nadayr Menard – 22.83
400 Meters: Daniel Kpeh – 53.26
600 Meters: John-Gabriel Lofredo – 1:22.24
800 Meters: Landyn Deboard – 1:57.83
1000 Meters: John-Gabriel Lofredo – 2:36.31
Mile: Isaac Linan – 4:25.13
3000: Peter Brown – 9:14.31
60M Hurdles: Daniel Kpeh – 8.70
4x400 Meter Relay: Terry, Wright, Szymanski, Deboard – 3:17.96 NAIA "B" Standard
 
Top Field Finishers
Shot Put: TaHaj Acoff – 55-0.00
Long Jump: Jace Carrasquillo – 22-6.25
 
Next On the Schedule
The Firestorm will take a week off before travelling north to Flagstaff, AZ on Friday February 20 for the NAU Tune Up.  Field events will start at 2:00pm with track events starting at 4:00pm

Roll Storm!