Five runners participate in California meet

Michael Pecha

Michael Pecha

While SDSU’s track and field meet at Fargo was postponed due to cold weather and snow, some of the Jackrabbits were in California enjoying warm weather and tough competition at the Mt. SAC Relays.

The Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., is one of the most competitive track meets in the country, with teams from all over the United States bringing their top athletes.

Five runners from SDSU ran at Mt. SAC, and all of them set NCAA provisional qualifying times.

“I was excited to come away from this high level of competition with six qualifying performances,” head track and field coach Paul Danger said. “Everyone we took out there came away with lifetime, or significant season bests.”

Erin Woolley set provisional qualifying times in both the 1,500 meter run, and the 5,000 meter run, at 4 minutes 35 seconds and 17 minutes 32 seconds, respectively.

“Erin really showed good versatility, qualifying in two events,” Danger said.

Freshman Brad Lowery ran the sixth fastest 1,500 time in Division-II this year, setting a qualifying time at 3:50.02.

“Brad ran an exceptional race, winning his heat and securing a time which will rank him among the top in the nation.”

Matt Pearson qualified in the 1,500 as well, finishing in 3:50.25. Kevin Doe qualified in the 5,000 meter run at 14:37.

Greg Darbyshire ran a qualifying time of 9:12 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

“This is the premiere distance meet in the nation, and our athletes really stepped forward to compete with the best,” Danger said.

The Jackrabbits run this weekend at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.