CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific track & field teams competed in their third full meet of the season as the Sunbirds took on a competitive field at the Rossi Relays in Southern California on Saturday. Overall the team turned in some eye-popping performances not typically seen this early in the season.
 
"I was very pleased with the performance across the board today," said head coach Ray Winter. "We had some very outstanding marks that reflect the work we've been putting in and suggest very good things to come. It was really special to see the student-athletes rallying around each other and supporting one another's efforts. Many of our athletes performed at a notably elevated level today, and it just makes me proud of their commitment to the training process and to each other. It's fun to see school record books getting re-written in our early meets too. I think we are as well-rounded and developed as a team right now as we have ever been in February."
 
Nikki Crouch had a big day in pole vault, improving her second all-time FPU mark to 11'5.75". The vault is less than an inch from the school record held by teammate Allie Austin, who also had a solid day going 10' 11.75".
 
Staying with the vaulters, freshman Chris Orange had an amazing day, winning the event in a new lifetime best 15'7". Orange moves up to fifth all-time at FPU with the clearance. Nico Chavez also improved on his lifetime PR, going 14'1.25", the same height reached by Norman Napolitano.
 
Also on the field events, Elijah McDowell made his way up the record books as well, high jumping 6'6" to sit ninth all-time in program history. For the women, Grace Bruschi had a lifetime best in the hammer with a throw of 144'5" (eighth all-time at FPU).
 
On the track, the women's 4x100m of Alyssa Emerson, Danae Manibog, Kyra Bailey and Brie Courseault won the event in a fast time (47.52), also going into the record books in sixth.
 
The women's 3k runners had a solid day with eight of them running either season or lifetime bests. Most notable improvements came from Bree Montoya (10:45.91) and Araceli Mancilla (10:55.13). The men's 3000m was highlighted by Alex Torres, who improved on his lifetime best (8:43.66) to move up to sixth in FPU's all-time list.
 
Courseault ran a very fast early 100m in 12.15 despite an early stumble, and Lawrence Cairo Jr. also ran a personal best 10.75 as the top finisher in the 100. Andre Woodson also ran well with a time of 10.87.
 
FPU was also a dominant presence in the 400 hurdles. Cathrin Wicke ran her first 400h race of the year and nearly won, running it in 1:03.78. She moves to sixth on the all-time list. On the men's side, Scott Hickam and Tamaj Johnson won their heats in 55.03 and 55.65, respectively.
 
The women's 4x400 relay finished the day off with a close second-place finish to conference rival Azusa Pacific. The relay was anchored by an inspiring leg by pole vault specialist Kristi Yorke, as Courseault, Tatum Perez and Manibog joined Yorke to finish with a time of 3:58.65, which is 10th all-time in program history.
 
The Sunbirds will have a split-squad next week, as a few student-athletes will head to the Chico Multi Classic on Thursday-Friday and the rest will head to the Kim Duyst Invitational on Saturday.