Beavers to Bulldog Invitational
April 21, 2016 | Women's Track & Field
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State track & field program will compete at the Bulldog Invitational in Clovis, Calif., on Saturday.
The meet begins at 12:30 p.m. with the women's hammer; running events begin at 3:45 p.m. It will be held at Veterans Memorial Stadium; Fresno State is the host team.
Projected teams in addition to OSU and the Bulldogs are Cal Poly; CSU-Bakersfield; CSU-Northridge; Fresno City College; Fresno Pacific; Nevada; Pacific (Calif.); San Francisco State; San Jose State; Stanislaus State; UC Santa Cruz, UNLV and Wisconsin.
“It's an outstanding meet, a great venue and it will be fun to compete against some teams we don't usually compete against,” OSU coach Kelly Sullivan said. “We will also get to see Mikayla Sodersten, one of our signees for next season, and her family,” as she lives in Clovis.
Team scores will be recorded, so the Beavers will have two competitors in as many events as possible, even though their overall number of entrants is limited somewhat by travel costs when compared to teams who are bussing to the event.
“I've always liked scoring meets. We have so many meets that aren't; scoring meets emphasize that your mark or time are important, but so is how high you finish overall.”
The Beavers will be bolstered by the anticipated return of junior long jumper /triple jumper Lucinda Howard. She went 18-9.25 in the long jump and 38-8.75 in the triple jump at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor championships, but bruised her heel bone on her final attempt at the triple and has not yet competed outdoors.
“She's been given the OK to go,” said Sullivan, noting that Howard will be restricted to the less-stressful long jump on Saturday. “We will be patiently optimistic with her. Bone bruises can take a long time to heal, and they restrict your training.
“This will give her a chance to compete to get the rust off. Mainly this is just getting her out the door, with the hope that she will be ready for the Pac-12 meet,” set for May 14-15 at the University of Washington.
The Beavers have set 10 school records since starting the outdoor campaign at the Lewis & Clark Spring Break Invitational on March 19.
Junior Devin Collins has broken the 100 hurdles mark three times; senior Rachel Picknell set the hammer mark twice. Other new marks were established by Melissa Ausman (discus), sophomore Kerissa D'Arpino (100), freshman Gillette Field (pole vault), sophomore McKenzie Byrd (javelin), and the 400 relay foursome of sophomore Jasmin McKenzie, Kerissa D'Arpino, sophomore Venessa D'Arpino and Collins.
They also have posted 32 all-time top-10 times or marks and have fulfilled Sullivan's high preseason expectations.
“You'd always like to have one jump or one throw back,” Sullivan said. “But with the promise and potential we've seen, our biggest thing now is making smart decisions on who, where and when we compete.
“It all comes down to how you are feeling when we get to the Pac-12 meet. We have to be smart with what we're doing. We don't have league or season won-loss records. It all comes down to that one weekend.”
Many of OSU's middle distance runners won't compete this weekend and instead will prepare for OSU's lone home competition of the season, the fourth annual High Performance Meet. It's set for April 29-30 at the Whyte Track & Field Center.
For more information on the Oregon State track and field program, follow the Beavers on Facebook at Facebook.com/OSUTrackCrossCountry, or on Twitter at twitter.com/@beavers_track.
Bulldog Invitational projected entries
100 METERS: Kerissa D'Arpino.
200 METERS: Kerissa D'Arpino, Venessa D'Arpino.
400 METERS: Venessa D'Arpino.
800 METERS: Morgan Anderson, Juliana Mount.
1500 METERS: Kristiane Width, Emily Weber.
100 HURDLES: Devin Collins, Alba Villaronga.
400 HURDLES: Devin Collins, Dakota Steen, Alba Villaronga.
400 RELAY: Oregon State (Jasmin McKenzie, Kerissa D'Arpino, Venessa D'Arpino, Devin Collins).
HIGH JUMP: Sara Almen, Allison Jackson, Jessica Lautenbach.
POLE VAULT: Helen Ann Haun, Gillette Field.
LONG JUMP: Jasmin McKenzie, Lucinda Howard.
TRIPLE JUMP: Michele Turney, Bethany Imperial.
DISCUS: Melissa Ausman, Rachel Picknell.
HAMMER: Rachel Picknell, Melissa Ausman.
JAVELIN: McKenzie Byrd, Kindel Bailey, Kayla Fleskes.
OREGON STATE ATHLETICS' EVERYDAY CHAMPIONS CULTURE
Through the power of sport, we help people discover and pursue their passions, talents and purpose in order to live a life of balance and positive contribution.
Players Mentioned
