SACRAMENTO, Calif.- Nation leading marks were set and school records fell Friday and Saturday as the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds soared above the competition at the Hornet Invitational at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State. 

On the women's side, Brianna Green improved on her school record in the 400m hurdles and set a nation leading time of 59.01. In the 4x400m relay the team of Sariyah Copeland, Brianna Green, Kenadhi Haslip, and Shaniya Randolph ran a season best and nation leading time of 3:40.88 earning them second place in the event behind the D1 team from Fresno State.  Unfortunately, the 4 x100m relay a team was dequeued, but the B team of Avril Mendoza, Ariana Vera, Iyanna Fuller, and Shelby Folmer ran an excellent time of 46.10, placing them tenth all time in the Sunbirds record books. In the 400m, Kenadhi Haslip ran a lifetime best 55.02, placing her fifth all time and fifth in the nation. Alexis Ranger-Dunbar ran a season best, just missing her lifetime best in the 100m hurdles. Ranger-Dunbar's time of 14.20 currently ranks her seventh in the nation, joining teammate Brianna Green, who is currently ranked number three. Freshman Avril Mendoza also recorded an outstanding performance in the 100m hurdles, ranking her sixth in Fresno Pacific school history with 14.84. In the women's 1500m, freshman Mattie Whipple ran a lifetime best of  4:36.76, placing her with the second fastest time in school history. Teammate Julia Martinez also ran a lifetime best of 4:41.53, good enough for fifth in the Sunbirds' record books. The women wrapped up the meet with another personal best from Maria Magnusdottir, who ran a  time of 4:46.55 in the 1500m, placing her eight in the Fresno Pacific record book. 

For the men, Shemar Palmer kicked things off, winning the 400m run with a nation leading time of 45.83 seconds, just 1/10 of a second off of his personal best which he ran last year at Nationals. Palmer was also a key contributor to the men's victory in the 4x400m relay, running a sub 45 second split along with teammates Jonathan Biffle, Zavian Cook , and Bo Olsen. The team's time of 3:10.85 is a nation leading best mark. Olsen continued his success from the relay and had a great race in the 800m, finishing in second place overall, running a time of 1:50.82, a time that ranks him fourth in the country. Chavez Gray won the discus throw with a mark of 51.19 m, a mark placing him ninth in the nation. Grey also finished fifth in the shotput. In the men's javelin, Fresno Pacific went 1-2-3 with Dejan Mileusnic, Forrest Gray, and Zachary Sims. The winning throw from Dejan of 64.86m currently ranks third in the nation. Senior Adrian Hodges took third place in the triple jump, with freshman Malachi Carrasco finishing fourth place in the high jump to represent the Sunbirds in the jumping events. Other notable performance came in the 400m hurdles, where freshman Jonathan Biffle finished in third, followed by Emanuel Solas and Monte Moore who recorded stellar times in the 800m, running  1:53.74 and 1:54.18 seconds, respectively.

UP NEXT

The Sunbirds will return to Fresno for one of the most anticipated meets of the season, the West Coast Relays. The relays are hosted by Fresno State at Warmerdam Field on the campus of Fresno State and Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of Buchanan High School in Clovis. The meet will be a two day meet, kicking off on Friday, March 28th with the hammer throws. 
 

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