Poets finish No. 2 after Day 1 of SCIAC Championships
Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
REDLANDS, Calif. – In one of their best performances of the season the Whittier College men's track and field team impressed finishing day one of the SCIAC Championships with a performance that puts them in second place.
Senior Brandon Wilcox got things started as he PR'ed in the discus to go 141' 10" to go along with a 2nd place finish. But the momentum continued for the Poets as distance runners Nathaniel Smauley and Kyle Feuerhelm both qualified for the finals in the 1500m.
Alex Jungsten ran a solid 110H race to qualify for the finals, while sophomore Kevin Curbelo cruised to an easy first place finish in the 400m with a time of 49.23 and was supported by Caleb Carillo who went 51.20 to finish 15th.
But things really heated up though in the 100m where junior Kimble Tillman excited the crowd following three great races by his competitors. They were simply setting the stage for Tillman as he ran a blazing 10.57 to lead the way to the finals. Djan Nanahene also had a solid PR in the 100m with an 11.18 to finish in 11th place.
Wilcox then came back in the shot put to put another stamp on things in the win column with a PR throw of a 49' 3.75". Idean Vandi got into the mix with a huge PR of almost 4' going 42' 11.75" to grab 6th place and his first All-Conference selection.
The 200m was exciting as well as Carillo, Scott Mele, and Sean Chatmon all ran well but just couldn't make it into the finals. The last race of the day was the 3000SC where freshman Joshua Ehinger ran another great race to finish in 6th for his All-conference recognition with a time of 9:55.18.
This race proved to be a momentum builder for the Poets going into Day 2 of the Championships as the entire team lined the sidelines cheering him on. Daniel Brody also ran well in the race with a 10:03.81 to finish in 10th.
