8 Flames to Compete in California
4/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Mt. SAC Relays Multis Meet Information/Schedule
Mt. SAC Relays Multis Entries
Bryan Clay Invitational Live Video Streaming (FloPro)
Bryan Clay Invitational Meet Information/Schedule
Azusa Weather
Mt. SAC Relays Live Video Streaming (FloPro)
Mt. SAC Relays Live Results
Mt. SAC Relays Schedule
Mt. SAC Relays Entries
Norwalk Weather
Eight Liberty track & field athletes will compete in three different meets in California this week, including the Mt. SAC Relays Multis, the Mt. SAC Relays and the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Riley Brandon, Erika Jackson and Kylie Polsgrove are entered in the California Invitational heptathlon, with Zach Gilroy and Lewis Williams competing in the California Invitational decathlon, as part of the Mt. SAC Relays Multis. Both events will be contested Wednesday and Thursday, starting at 11:30 a.m. Eastern each day, at Cougar Athletic Stadium in Azusa, Calif.
The same venue will play host to the Bryan Clay Invitational, where Flames Ken Ritchey and Carson Waters will pole vault on Friday. The event is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
About 20 miles southwest of Azusa, Ednah Kurgat will open her 2016 outdoor track & field season Friday evening. The two-time All-American sophomore is entered in the women's 5K at the Mt. SAC Relays at Cerritos College Falcon Stadium in Norwalk, Calif. Her race is set to go off Friday at 10:45 p.m. Eastern.
How to Follow the Flames and Lady Flames
Live results are expected to be available for all three events in California.
With a paid subscription to Flotrack's FloPro, live video streaming will be available for both the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Mt. SAC Relays.
Weather Report
The high temperature is supposed to reach the mid 70s with abundant sunshine during the Mt. SAC Relays Multis, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday's weather forecast for the Bryan Clay Invitational features more of the same, with the high temperature edging closer to 80.
Friday's forecast for Norwalk is similar, with sunny skies and a high in the upper 70s. Kurgat hopes that the predicted gusty winds out of the northwest die down in time for her race.
Mapping Out the Multis
Freshman Kylie Polsgrove will compete in her first collegiate heptathlon this week in Azusa, while Zach Gilroy and Lewis Williams will both contest their first decathlon of the 2016 season.
Riley Brandon and Erika Jackson will each look to improve upon their results from the Texas Relays heptathlon, March 30-31. Jackson posted the second best score of her career (4,820), which currently tops the 2016 Big South performance list. Brandon ranks fourth in the Big South this season with 4,156 points, despite scoring zero in the shot put at the Texas Relays.
Brandon (2014) and Jackson (2015) are the last two Big South heptathlon champions, and Jackson won this year's Big South indoor pentathlon competition.
The Mt. SAC Relays Multis have a rich tradition, with past champions including Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Bryan Clay and Dave Johnson. C.K. Yang set the decathlon world record with 9,121 points (old scoring table) at the 1963 Mt. SAC Relays.
How High Can They Fly?
Ken Ritchey (16-2.75) and Carson Waters (16-1.25) are two of the Big South's three men's pole vaulters who have gone over 16 feet this season, along with High Point's Austin Miller (16-4.5).
Both Ritchey and Waters will look to improve their chances at qualifying for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet. Last season, Ritchey was one of the final men's pole vaulters to get into the Preliminary Round meet at 16-6.75.
Ritchey (16-8.75) and Waters (16-5.25) both achieved their lifetime best clearances during the indoor season.
Ritchey and Waters will be competing in the Bryan Clay Invitational, named for Azusa Pacific alum Bryan Clay, who won the decathlon gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the decathlon silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Incidentally, Clay's best pole vault clearance was 16-10.75.
Catching Up with Kurgat
Friday evening, Ednah Kurgat will compete in her first race since March 11. That night, she placed ninth in the 5K at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala., earning second team All-America honors.
Kurgat's section of the Mt. SAC Relays women's 5K features numerous sub-16:00 5K runners, including Michigan's Erin Finn, the 2016 NCAA Division I indoor women's 3K and 5K runner-up.
Last year, 18 runners in the top section of the Mt. SAC Relays women's 5K broke 16 minutes. Mexico's Brenda Eunice Flores Munoz is the top returnee from that race, where she was the runner-up at 15:31.82.
The Mt. SAC Relays has a history of producing fast distance times, including Shalane Flanagan's American record 5K effort of 14:44.80 in 2007. At that same meet, Josh McDougal clocked 13:20.43, which still stands as the Liberty and Big South Conference outdoor men's 5K record.
Kurgat ran well the last time she raced on the West Coast. She shattered the Liberty and Big South indoor women's 5K record with her 15:47.89 clocking at the Husky Classic, Feb. 12 in Seattle, Wash.
Kurgat could potentially do some more record breaking Friday evening. Below is a list of some of her potential time objectives.
16:34.74 (Kurgat's outdoor 5K personal best, May 1, 2015)
16:31.00 (Liberty's outdoor women's 5K record, Ashley Osborne, May 14, 2010)
16:28.79 (What it took to qualify for the 2015 NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round meet)
16:26.99 (Big South's outdoor women's 5K record, Catherine Conder, Coastal Carolina, April 20, 1996
15:47.89 (Kurgat's overall 5K personal best, Feb. 12, 2016)
15:25.10 (NCAA's fastest time of 2016, Dominique Scott, Arkansas, April 1)
