Mikala Fairchild

On Saturday, The Master’s University women’s track and field team competed at the Ross & Sharon Irwin Invitational, hosted by Point Loma Nazarene University.

The day began with several sections of the 1500m. Mikala Fairchild, Morgan Pedrick, and Rachael Ingoldsby represented TMU in the first, and fastest, section, posting times of 4:38.01, 4:42.15, and 4:42.91 respectively. Fairchild’s mark cleared the NAIA’s “B” standard (4:40.00) and qualified her to compete in the 37th Annual Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Championships from May 25-27, 2017 at the Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium, Gulf Shores, Alabama, making her the second lady mustang to do so thus far this season. Fairchild will join Ingoldsby as the senior runner qualified last weekend to compete in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Ben Brown Invitational.

Rylee Bishop also competed in the 1500m, clocking in at 4:58.52, just 2 seconds off her lifetime best. “I was very happy with how well all four ladies raced today in the 1500m”, commented head coach Zach Schroeder. Although Morgan and Rachael just missed qualifying, I’m confident they’ll hit the mark as we continue to progress into the season. This was the first time they’ve run the 1500m this season, and I am very happy with how they’re looking at this point in the year.”

Next for the Lady Mustangs was Madison Cole in the pole vault. Cole cleared three heights, and matched her season best of 2.79m.

Competing in the 100m, Tess Thompson won her heat and ran a new lifetime best of 13.31. Thompson returned to the track later in the day to run another lifetime best in the 200m of 27.30.

“Every time Tess has laced up the spikes this season, she’s run a lifetime best”, said Schroeder. “I’m so excited to see all of Tess’ hard work paying off.”

Emily Hess also competed in both the 100m and 200m, posting marks of 14.2 and 29.59 respectively. Notably, Hess’ 200m mark was a new lifetime best.

Doubling back in the 800m was Pedrick, Ingoldsby, Fairchild, and Bishop, with times of 2:23.68, 2:24.28, 2:25.66, and 2:26.8 respectively.

“The purpose of the 800m was to practice running on tired legs”, Schroeder explained. “I wanted my girls to practice their closing speed after running a hard 1500m race. Their overall times reflect how hard they raced the 1500m, but they all did a great job of finishing the 800m well.”

Ariana Sciarra also competed in the 800m, running 2:30.81 and winning her section.

Next weekend, a small squad of the Lady Mustangs will compete in the Westmont Classic with Jim Klein Multis from March 23-25 in Santa Barbara.