Aliso Viejo, CA – The Firestorm Track & Field program traveled to Aliso Viejo, CA to compete at the GSAC Track & Field Championships held on the campus of Soka University.  The team will return home with its third championship trophy in program history but is setting a program first by sharing the title of GSAC Champions with the women's team.  When all was said and done, the men's team earned twenty-six All-GSAC awards, with eleven of those being GSAC Champions.  Leading the way was Jase Carrasquillo and TaHaj Acoff who finished in a three-way tie with Dominic Grinceri of The Master's University for Field Athlete of the Meet honors.  The trio scored 26 points apiece through their respective field events.  Nadayr Menard, by scoring 17.5 points, was named Freshman of the Meet.  And finally, head coach Brian Bell was given Coach of the Year honors.  

Decathlon 
Senior Manny Valenzuela scored 5135 points to earn his first GSAC championship award.  Sophomores Luca Munoz and Maximus Gidley who were competing in their first multi-event championship placed second and third to earn All-GSAC distinctions.

Relays 
It was a clean sweep of the relays for the Firestorm over the weekend.  The winning started with the team of John-Gabriel Lofredo, Adriel Valenzuela, Tanner Johnson, and Landyn Deboard winning the 4x800 relay in a school record time of 7:52.13.  The next morning Markeese Wright, Anthony Lieberman, Nadayr Menard and John Terry won the 4x100 relay, and then in the afternoon Wright and Terry joined with Deboard and Michael Szymanski to win the 4x400 relay.

Sprints 
Wright, in addition to his work on two relay teams, also gave strong performances in his individual events.  He won the open 400-meters and finished third in the 200-meter to garner All-GSAC recognition.  The Firestorm men actually swept the open 400-meter race as Szymanski and Terry both set new personal bests to finish second and third to Wright.  Freshman Menard won the 100-meter dash with a new personal best of 10.58.

Middle Distance 
Four Firestorm runners finished in the top-8 of the 800-meter race led by freshman Landyn Deboard who ran a season best time of 1:57.16 to earn All-GSAC honors.  Sophomore Isaac Linan, who finished fourth in the 800, earlier in the day placed third in the 1500 to gain his own All-GSAC distinction. 

Long Distance 
In the steeplechase junior Julian Salyer set a new personal best of 9:50.99 to finish fourth overall and narrowly miss earning his first All-GSAC in the event.  Senior Trevin Janssen, a last minute addition to the event, nearly ran a strong second half to finish right behind Salyer with a time of 9:52.65 to secure four valuable points for the men's team.

Jumps
Jase Carrasquillo was prolific in the jumps, finishing third in the high jump and winning the long and triple jumps.  He was aided by teammates Anthony Brazier and Anthony Lieberman whose second and third place finishes gave the Firestorm another event sweep.

Throws
Junior TaHaj Acoff won the GSAC championship in both the shot put and discus events, while he finished third in the hammer throw.  The team received a strong showing from the javelin crew as four Firestorm finished in the top eight of point scorers.  They were led by Isaac McKeown who won the competition with a season best throw and program record of 188' 5".  Sophomore Brooks Rasmussen finished second just behind McKeown with a toss of 184' 3". 

Pole Vault
After securing a conference championship in the Decathlon, Manny Valenzuela competed in the Pole Vault and secured a second-place finish with a vault of 12' 5.5".  Josue Gudina and Braxton Pingleton, who were competing in the event for the first time were both able to score points with Gudina finishing fourth overall and Pingleton seventh.

From Head Coach Brian Bell
"It was a thrilling championship, with so many great moments.  We attribute the team's success to God's kindness and a lot of hard work.  The is a first in the history of track & field at Arizona Christian University to have both teams win the GSAC championship in the same year."

GSAC Team Finishes

1. Arizona Christian – 314
2. The Master's – 232
3. Ottawa (AZ) – 101.5
4. Simpson – 64.5
5. Embry-Riddle – 55
6. Park-Gilbert – 52

Decathlon Results

1. Manny Valenzuela – 5,135 points | GSAC Champion
2. Luca Munoz – 4,337 points | All-GSAC
3. Maximus Gidlye – 3261 points | All-GSAC

Top Track Finishers
4x100M Relay: Wright, Lieberman, Menard, Terry – 41.75 | GSAC Champion
4x400M Relay: Terry, Deboard, Szymanski, Wright – 3:20.82 | GSAC Champion
4x800M Relay: Lofredo, Valenzuela, Johnson, Deboard – 7:52.13 | GSAC Champion | Program Record
100 Meters: Nadayr Menard– 10.58 | GSAC Champion
200 Meters: Markeese Wright – 21.57 | All-GSAC
400 Meters: Markeese Wright– 48.55 | GSAC Champion
800 Meters: Landyn Deboard– 1:57.16 | All-GSAC
1500 Meters: Isaac Linan – 4:06.99 | All-GSAC
5,000 Meters: Trevin Janssen – 16:13.39
10,000 Meters: Braxton Pingleton – 33:23.70
3K Steeplechase: Julian Salyer – 9:50.99
110M Hurdles: Thaddious Thurman – 15.18 | All-GSAC
400M Hurdles: Brenton Szymanski – 55.44 | GSAC Champion
 
Top Field Finishers
Hammer: TaHaj Acoff  – 141' 3" | All-GSAC
Javelin: Isaac McKeown – 188' 5" GSAC Champion | Program Record
Discus: TaHaj Acoff – 157' 01" | GSAC Champion
Shot Put: TaHaj Acoff  – 52' 9.25" | GSAC Champion
Pole Vault: Manny Valenzuela – 12' 5.5" | All-GSAC
High Jump: Jase Carrasquillo – 6' 3.25" | All-GSAC
Long Jump: Jase Carrasquillo – 23' 5.25" | GSAC Champion
Triple Jump: Jase Carrasquillo – 44' 00" | GSAC Champion
 
Next On the Schedule
Those who have qualified will now prepare for the NAIA Track & Field Championships which will be held in Ashville, NC at the Karl Straus track facility May 20-22.

Roll Storm!