RESULTS

LOS ANGELES -- The Cal State East Bay track and field teams had a memorable afternoon Saturday at the Occidental Distance Carnival Spring Break Classic. The Pioneers turned in several outstanding performances, led by four student-athletes who posted top-10 times in program history.

"That was a pretty historic day for us," said head coach Tony Nicolosi. "We had dramatic drops in personal bests for many of the athletes. I think what's most important is our experienced runners proved they can perform on a big stage in a big moment, and our inexperienced athletes showed immense mental toughness and gained valuable experience. We are far better for this opportunity."

The majority of the distance squad competed in the 5000 meters, and sophomore Angelina Ronquillo led the way with the second-fastest time in school history. She finished seventh overall in a deep field of athletes representing every level of collegiate track. Ronquillo's time of 17:09.37 is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, and it's currently the fastest time by any Division II runner in the nation this season by more than 13 seconds. 

"Angie is the first woman since I've been at East Bay to hit a provisional time," Nicolosi noted. "She raced with incredible poise and toughness. She ranks up there with some of the incredibly fast women in the history of this school, and she will have a chance to go to nationals this year."

Fellow sophomore Claire Fisher also had an outstanding effort in that event, winning the second heat of the 5000 meters by nearly 14 seconds with a time of 17:53.41. That marks ranks 12th in the country. She was followed in that heat by Andrea Romero, who had a shoe snafu, ran much of the race barefoot, and had to get stitches afterward. She still managed a 26th place finish. Amanda Navarro took 32nd place in the same race, and Jessica Mendez finished 40th.

"Claire controlled her race easily, and at this meet, that is hard to do," praised Nicolosi. "She is going to drop a ton of time this Spring and have a chance to qualify for nationals in the 10k as well."

Junior Brittney Duquette represented the Pioneers in the 800 meters and turned in the second-fastest time in the Division II this year. She crossed the tape in 2:13.69, notching a second-place finish in the first heat by less than four-tenths of a second. 

"This was a great start for Brittney after an incredible spring last year," Nicolosi added. "She will be a contender to win the conference in the 800."

Caitlin Amburgey rounded out the afternoon for the CSUEB women by taking 15th in Heat 1 of the 1500 meters, posting a time of 5:01.04.

There were a number of tremendous performances on the men's side as well, led by junior Julian Johnson. All six Pioneer distance runners entered in the 5000 meters, and Johnson proceeded to enter the record books with the seventh-fastest time in program history. He completed the race in 15:06.16, good for 13th place in the second heat at Occidental. It also stands currently as the 17th-fastest time in Division II. 

Freshman Xavier Smith now holds the eighth-fastest mark in school history after finishing the race in 15:26.81 to take 13th place in the third heat. Oscar Mora (15:55.37), Melvin Esteva (16:00.02), John Bradshaw (16:11.33), and Bryan Llopis (16:20.80) all turned in strong efforts in the 5000m as well.