TURLOCK, Calif.---  Cal Poly Humboldt distance runner Saedy Williamson lead the way for the Jacks at the Kim Duyst Invitational.  She captured the 5000-meter run with a personal best time of 17:46.70.  The Jacks recorded twenty conference qualifying marks/times in the Kim Duyst, which featured over 700 competitors. The Jack 4x400 relay team of Valerie Heywood, Emily Bath, Grace Kasberger and Joy Hano placed third with a time of 4:15.06.
 
"On our first team trip of the year, athletes performed admirably over the past couple days. Several CCAA conference qualifying marks were achieved and many athletes set new lifetime personal best marks in their events," said head coach Sarah Ingram.  "This meet had over 700 athletes competing across multiple divisions, and it was a great start for our program to see where we stand among the conference competition that was present."
 
Over on the women's side, the Lumberjacks had top eight conference qualifying marks/times.  Williamson ran a personal best time of 17:46.70 in the 5000-meter run.  Over in the shot put, Delaena Montes finished in tenth place with a throw of 10.72m (35-2).  Kaela Frederick-Dennert finished sixth in the high jump (4-10.25/1.48m) and 15^th with her throw of 127-10 (38.96m) in the hammer. Grace Kasberger was fourth in the high jump (5-2.25/1.58m) and eighth in the 100-hurdles (16.26).  Joy Hano finished fourth in the long jump (16-7.75/5.06m) and was seventh in the 100-hurdles (15.88).
 
The women's 4x400 relay team of Valerie Heywood, Emily Bath, Grace Kasberger and Joy Hano placed third with a time of 4:15.06.
 
The Lumberjack men had 15 conference qualifying marks at the Kim Duyst Invitational.  Ryan Castro had a time of 11.22 which placed him 16^th in the 100-meter dash.  Shane Oliver placed eighth in the 400-hurdles with a time of 59.83 while Julian Jensen was fourth in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:06.54. Carson Smith and Elliott Portillo finished in the top eight in the 5000-meter run.  Smith was fifth (14:59.24) and Portillo was eighth (15.12:62).  Travis Allen had a jump of 20-5.75 (6.24m) which placed him ninth in the long jump.  Kegan Richards placed fifth in the discus (141-8/43.19m) and eighth in the shot put (45-1.75/13.76m). Jared Del Real and Nolan Smith had conference qualifying marks in the shot put and discus.  Del Real placed fifth in the shot put (47-11.25/14.61m) and 14^th in the discus (128-8/39.23m). Smith placed 11^th in the shot put (42-3.5/12.89m) and 17^th in the discus (125-3/38.19m).
 
"It's easy to get lost in a track meet that size and this was good practice for our young squad in learning how to best navigate the large meet format with delays and figuring out ideal warmup times, proper fueling, etc.," added Ingram.  "I think the athletes have all learned from this trip and have a better understanding of what to expect and how to better prepare as we move forward into our next meets.  The long drive and cold windy conditions can create a tough environment for quality performances but the team really showed up to support one another throughout the exhausting weekend, and I think the team is closer knit at the end of the trip."
 
The Lumberjacks will return to competition on Saturday, March 12 in Eugene, Oregon, at the Lance CC Open.