FRESNO, Calif. –The Fresno Pacific men's and women's track & field teams opened competition at the 2018 PacWest Conference Championship meet on Friday at FPU Track. The Sunbirds had two individual champions and six student-athletes earn All-Conference honors on the day.
 
Through six scored events, the FPU men sit in second overall with 38 points, while the women are third with 42 points. APU currently sits atop both standings with 47 points for the women and 78 points for the men.
 
"I'm indescribably proud of the two conference champions that were crowned today," said head coach Ray Winter. "Both Kaylin Garcia and Andrew Morin have come so far in a short amount of time, and it has come from grit and discipline and a true passion for what they do. I know these kinds of performances inspire their teammates, which really highlights the multiple ways in which individual success can better entire team."
 
Garcia highlighted the women's opening day of the meet, as the junior brought home the individual title in the discus. She threw 143-04 on her third attempt and held off teammate Christy Norris, who recorded a distance of 141-09 in second to earn All-Conference honors. Grace Bruschi (132-10) took fourth, Mackenzie Curtis (124-03) finished seventh and Klaryssa Moreno (114-08) closed in 10th as the Sunbirds were well-represented up and down the leaderboard in the event.
 
Garcia also had a season best in the javelin, taking eighth with a throw of 107-04.
 
Also on the field, the women's pole vault crew was led by Nikki Crouch, who earned All-Conference honors with a third-place finish. She cleared 11-01.75. Allie Austin took fifth (10-08.00) and Kristi Yorke had a PR in eighth (10-02.00).
 
Cathrin Wicke took seventh in the long jump with a distance of 18-03.00. She also won her prelim heat in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:01.86 and is seeded second for the finals on Saturday.
 
On the track, Vicki Arevalo took sixth in the grueling 10,000 run with a time of 39:10.05.
 
For the men, Morin capped off his strong junior campaign with a title in the pole vault by clearing 15-07.00. Teammate Norman Napolitano tied for second with a season-best clearance of 15-01.00, which moved him to seventh all-time at FPU. Nico Chavez also impressed with a vault of 14-01.25 to take fifth.
 
In the discus, Tim Holmes earned All-Conference honors with a third-place throw of 134-07. Clint Harris followed in sixth (130-00), while Julian Gonzalez was eighth (119-02).
 
Gonzalez also took seventh in the javelin (134-09), all while being in third in the standings for the decathlon with 2,964 points. He won the 100m with a time of 11.67. Morin stands in fourth in the decathlon standings with 2,881 points.
 
In the long jump, Elijah McDowell went 21-01.25 in fifth, D.J. Maxwell-Garcia soared to 20-07.75 in eighth and Sam Burt PR'd with a jump of 20-04.25 in ninth.
 
FPU also ran well in the track preliminary races on both the men's and women's sides.
 
Danae Manibog and Brie Courseault won their heats in the 400m at 55.88 and 57.42, respectively, to qualify 1-2 for Saturday. Michael Taylor also won his heat in the 400m at 48.86. In the 100m, Kala McClain is seeded first after running 11.95 in the prelims, which is just off her school record.
 
In the 200m, the Sunbirds had the top three qualifiers -- Courseault (24.21), Manibog (24.51) and McClain (24.84). Manibog's time moves her to third all-time at FPU.
 
"Day one went really well for us overall," said Winter. "There is always unexpected highs and unforeseen lows that occur in a championship meet and today was no different. Tomorrow is going to shape up for a very close and interesting championship day."
 
PacWest Championships continue Saturday at FPU Track. Day two is scheduled with finals in 30 different events. Check out the meet program for the final day by  clicking here.