Broncos Shine in Local Races

By Chris Glennon

The Santa Clara track teams had successful meets this past weekend at the Brutus Hamilton Invite and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invite. The meets, hosted by Cal and Stanford respectively, saw the Broncos post two school records and seven personal bests.

Allie Sibole got the weekend off to a good start, setting the women's 1500m school record at Cal on Friday, while senior Erin McCarthy improved her own 800m record on Sunday at Stanford.

"It was an outstanding weekend of competition," said Bronco Head Coach Felipe Montoro. "On Friday we ran seven personal bests at the Brutus Hamilton Invite including Allie's record-setting run and on Sunday Erin took full advantage of her opportunity to compete at one of the most elite track and field competitions in the country, smashing her best 800m time by nearly four seconds." 

Montoro attributed McCarthy's fast time to developing a strong pace early on in the race.

"Erin ran a very tough race, she took a risk and really committed to a fast early pace," said Montoro. "Her time of 2:09.85 is probably on the bubble or just outside of qualifying for round one of the NCAA Championships. She will have a few more opportunities to move up on the performance list."

If recent performances are any indication, McCarthy is only getting better. Her personal record broke the one she set just the week before, and she'll have one more opportunity during the regular season to better her time. Her time was the 29th best at the meet. It was also the seventh best time from a collegiate, as the meet featured professional and club competitors.

Adidas athlete Morgan Uceny, who was ranked the No. 1 runner in the world last year for the 1500m, won the event. McCarthy also had a strong showing Friday in the 1500m at the Brutus Hamilton Invite, finishing third overall. Her third place finish was .01 seconds behind teammate Sibole, who took home second place. Both runners topped the previous school record for the event, which was previously held by McCarthy. In the same event, Junior Hayley Ney set a personal best, finishing just over a second behind Sibole and McCarthy.

On the men's side at Cal, senior Richard Zhu finished in sixth place in the 1500m, which was a season best for him. Junior Matt Mosier had the best time for a Bronco in the 800m, running a personal best that topped Zhu by under a second. In the 5000m, junior Kevin Oliver set the pace for the Broncos, finishing in just over 15 minutes. Freshman Bryan Crook, running in the same race, shaved nearly 20 seconds off of his previous personal best. 

Both teams will finish up their regular seasons this weekend at the Sacramento State Open. After that, they will head to Salem, Ore. for the West Coast Conference Invite on May 12.

Contact Chris Glennon at cglennon@scu.edu.