Glendale, AZ – The Firestorm Track & Field program traveled 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 Heptathletes' Lucille Lovelace and Cheney Gomes to compete in a multi-event, the team received a balanced performance across all disciplines which featured multiple new personal records, and individual victories in the Mile and 3000-meter races.

The weekend began with Lovelace and Gomez participating the five event Pentathlon.  Lovelace finished fourth out of seven competitors and Gomez sixth.  Lovelace set season bests in four of the five events while Cheney set season bests in two events, and new personal bests in three.  The pair will now prepare for their first heptathlon which will be at Paradise Valley Community College on March 20-21 before setting their eyes on performing at the GSAC Track & Field Championships in April.

On the track, junior transfer Alison Unruh made her season debut and won the Mile race in a new personal best time of 5:26.96.  Later in the afternoon she competed with teammates Priscilla Celis-Saldivar in the 3000-meter race with Celis Saldivar managing to edge out the victory in a time of 11:27.66.  In other events, Shaylee Quenzer led the hurdle squad with a new personal best of 9.89 in the 60-meter hurdles, while Sedona Dietrich led the shot put ladies with a toss of 36 feet 11.75 inches.

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."

Lucy Lovelace Heptathlon Results – 4^th Place (2,541 points)
       60 Meter Hurdles: 10.55 (613 points)
       High Jump: 4-7.5 (523 points)
       Shot Put: 24-3.75 (361 points)
       Long Jump: 15-10.5 (516 points)
       800 Meters: 2:44 (528 points)
 
Cheney Gomez Heptathlon Results – 6^th Place (2,471 points)
       60 Meter Hurdles: 10.70 (587 points)
       High Jump: 4-6.25 (491 points)
       Shot Put: 34-8.25 (567 points)
       Long Jump: 14-8.75 (426 points)
       800 Meters: 2:56 (400 points)
 
Top Track Finishers
60 Meters: India Green – 7.92
200 Meters: Annabel Johnson – 28.66
400 Meters: Jayde Stremcha – 1:06.07
600 Meters: Lucy Mangini – 1:47.56
Mile: Alison Unruh – 5:26.96
3000: Priscilla Celis-Saldivar – 11:27.66
60M Hurdles: Shaylee Quenzer – 9.89
4x400 Meter Relay: Gomez, Green, Quenzer, Rhodes – 4:07.15
 
Top Field Finishers
Shot Put: Sedona Dietrich – 36-11.75
Pole Vault: McKenna Rogers – 10-6.00
Long Jump: Rylan Rhodes – 16-06.00
 
Next On the Schedule
The Firestorm will take a week off before traveling 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!