LOS ANGELES—The Lions put together another weekend of personal records (PRs), this time at the historic Drake Stadium on the campus of UCLA. Competing across two days—Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22—five of the six athletes who raced came away with new lifetime bests.
The weekend opened Friday evening at the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival, where senior Trinity Tingey (Danville, Calif.) continued her steady progression in the 5000 meters. Tingey chipped another second off her personal best, clocking 18:52.01, which added to the senior's growing string of consistent performances.
The action continued Saturday afternoon at the Jim Bush Legends Invitational also at Drake Stadium with junior Ayden Brown (Lafayette, La.) delivering one of the most impressive races of the weekend in the 800 meters. Brown placed second in her heat, lowering her PR by four seconds with a time of 2:15.68 and now ranks #7 All-Time at LMU for the distance.
"We knew Ayden was ready for a breakthrough and planned to start this race more aggressively than she had so far this season," said Head Coach Chloe Curtis. "She executed her race plan perfectly—got out with urgency and positioned herself right behind the leader with a shot to win." While Brown ended up finishing second, Curtis said the big drop in time indicates she's "poised to go even faster with the right race conditions."
Also, competing in the 800 meters was junior Katie Power (Mystic, Conn.), who was just off her personal best, finishing in 2:28.73—her second-fastest time to date.
In the 1500 meters, all three LMU entries—junior Hayden Washington (Valencia, Calif.), sophomores
Rylee Guinn (Brentwood, Calif.), and
Tessa Kline (Springfield, Mass.)—competed in the fast section. Washington led the way with a new PR of 4:40.97 to place second overall, with Guinn not far behind in 4:43.33 for third, also achieving a personal best. Kline, seeded last in the heat, surged through the field to finish fourth in a lifetime best of 4:49.71—an eight-second PR and a 15-second improvement from her time at this meet a year ago. Kline's standout effort earned her Lion of the Meet honors, as voted by her teammates.
"Hayden and Rylee took control of the race, setting the pace in the early laps, which was great to see," said Curtis. She commended the athletes for immediately responding to moves made by a Cal State Fullerton athlete, which pulled them along to new personal bests. "When we keep our focus on competing for the win," Curtis said, "the fast times follow."
As for Kline, Curtis called it a "fantastic breakthrough performance" and noted how impressed she was with Kline's mindset heading into the race. "Some athletes would be extra nervous going into a race seeded last," Curtis said. "But Tessa chose to be excited about the opportunity and simply went for it." Curtis explained that Kline took a risk by running the first 800 meters significantly faster than she ever had before, inserted herself into the mix, and out-leaned a Cal State Fullerton athlete at the line to place fourth. "It gets me excited about what she can do in her next race," Curtis said.
Kline will get that opportunity in two weeks when she and her teammates travel to La Jolla, Calif., for the Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego on April 4 and 5.
