RESULTS
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Three more Sea Lions earned All-Conference honors on day two of The PacWest Championships, capping off a successful conference meet for Point Loma.
Over the two days, PLNU totaled 30 season-best performances, 19 personal-bests, six new additions to the program's Top-10 list and four NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks.
"The ladies all gave their best efforts," Head Coach
Jerry Arvin said. "I as well as the other coaches are extremely proud of their efforts and dedication. It was truly another remarkable conference championship showcasing why we are the best track conference in NCAA Division II."
Anessa Chirgwin (discus) and
Aubrie Nex (1500 meters) posted runner-up finishes, while
Nica Zsiros placed third in the heptathlon.
Chirgwin, who entered as the reigning back-to-back PacWest discus champion, was denied a three-peat by just 0.68 meters. She finished second with a mark of 44.70 meters.
Nex also placed second in the 1500 meters in a time of 4:30.48, a nationals provisional mark, a year after winning the event at the conference meet.
She initially settled into fifth place after the start, before steadily moving up to fourth, third and then second. The race came down to the final 100 meters, where CUI's Jori Paradis narrowly pulled away from Nex.
Zsiros finished third in the heptathlon with 4,336 points, improving upon the 4,008-point total that placed her fifth in the same event at last year's PacWest Championships.
She entered the day in fourth place after the first four events on Friday, but moved up to third after posting the following finishes in heptathlon events on Saturday – second in both the long jump (5.00 meters) and javelin (30.99 meters), and sixth in the 800 meters (2:30.37).
The trio of Chirgwin, Nex and Zsiros raised the total of All-PacWest honorees for Point Loma to five, joining
Peyton Yoshida and
Eva Koutelieris in the pole vault, with top-three finishers in every event earning All-Conference honors.
Zsiros also finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles (15.53 seconds), moving up a spot from her seeding after Friday's prelims, with
Bree Gentry doing the same in the 800 meters (2:18.89).
Madelynn Worley ran a personal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 55.57 seconds in the 400 meters to place fifth, strengthening her hold as the second-best Sea Lion in the event in program history.
Blanca Granados finished eighth in the same event in a personal-best time of 57.36 seconds.
Makenna Sullivan placed fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 10.88 meters, while
Rylee Flanagan was sixth at 9.99 meters.
Reagan Cole (1:05.88) and Sullivan (1:06.19) finished seventh and eighth respectively in the 400-meter hurdles.
Ellie Nguyen placed eighth in the high jump, clearing 1.57 meters.
A pair of PLNU relay teams in the 4x100 and 4x400 posted fifth place finishes.
Lillian Gomez,
Blanca Granados,
Madelynn Worley and
Brynn Celani finished fifth in the 4x100 meter relay in a time of 47.71 seconds.
Then in the final event of the day,
Bree Gentry, Nex, Worley and Granados placed fifth in the 4x400 meter relay (3:51.61).
Point Loma finished sixth as a team with 82 points.
"I could not have asked for a better effort from all the girls and I think they all have a very bright future in a Sea Lions uniform," Arvin said.
A select group of Sea Lions will continue their seasons and compete at the Oxy Invite (May 4) and Franson Last Chance (May 10-11) in an effort to either qualify for the NCAA Championships or improve upon their provisional qualifying marks.
