April 24, 2011

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Lions went down to sunny San Diego yesterday to race at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational. LMU had a strong showing on the day highlighted by a win and the fastest 1500m womens time on the day from Sheree Shea and a series of notable performance across the board.

Sophomore Sheree Shea had a stellar race in front of a hometown San Diego crowd yesterday where she won the top heat of the 1500m at the UCSD Triton Invitational. Shea ran a 4:31 clocking the fastest time on the day earning the UCSD 1500 Invite Champ over top competitors from UCSB, SDSU, Long Beach State and UC Riverside.

Freshman Alyssa Bellia continued to show top speed on the track, turning in almost a ten second personal best for the 1500m running a 4:44. Close in step, freshman Brittnie Munoz shaved a couple seconds off her personal best to run a 4:46. Sophomore Caroline Draper also a personal best in 4:47.5 with teammate Brieanna Delaney close behind in 4:49. Sophomore Jessica Mumaugh turned in a 4:52 for a big personal best breaking five minutes in her second 1500m race this season. Freshman Kelly Shogren ran a two second personal best in 4:57. Freshman teammate Laura Delgado ran a 5:10 while Jillian Jaccard ran 5:22 and Megan Fairley ran 5:34.

Greg Innes led the men in the 800m race finishing in 1:56 clocking his fastest time all season for the distance. RJ Larrieu finished in 2:01 in his first 800m race this season for a big debut at the distance with teammate Dan Smith close behind in 2:02 for a personal best as well. Senior Michael Herrera also turned in a solid performance in 2:06 and a one second personal best for the distance.

In the 1500m freshman Weston Strum led the Lions in 3:53 recording his fastest time of the season for the 1500m distance and the third fastest time of the day at the Invitational. Sophomore Sterling Lockert ran a top time for this season in 3:56 for a top performance on the afternoon. Freshman Drew Dalton also had a solid performance in 3:58. Freshman Mike Evans recorded a 4:08 for the distance while senior Connor Pastoor finished in 4:11 for a big season best. Henry Jordan turned in a 4:14 debut for the distance. Finally Phillip Benavides finished in 4:16 and Matt Duncan in 4:31. Also for the men Scott Donahue competed in the 5000m distance where he raced his first 5k on the track this season in 16:05. Michael Carlone also had a big performance in the 3k steeple chase, turning in over a ten second personal best in 10:11.

Next up the Lions will race at the Payton Jordan Invitational hosted by Stanford in Palo Alto, CA on April 30th as well as the Steve Scott Invitational on April 30th and 31st hosted at UC Irvine.