Men lead regional track and field after first day; women second
Mesa, AZ – The Mesa men's track and field team had the lead at the Region I championships after the first day of competition at John D. Riggs Stadium Tuesday.
The 11th-ranked T-Birds scored 124 points on day one, leading second place Central Arizona which had 73. Paradise Valley was third at 54.
The 12th-ranked MCC women were in second place, trailing Central Arizona, 71-56. Pima was third with 51 points.
The men's performance was highlighted by two outstanding finishes in distance events. The T-Birds took second, third and fourth places in the 3000-meter steeplechase as well as the 10,000-meters.
In the steeplechase, all three runners bettered the NJCAA qualifying standard, although only one improved his standing.
Tristan Stellmach took second place in 9:32.81 and clipped almost two seconds off his previous mark. He ranked seventh nationally in the event prior to the regional. Benjamin Brady was third in 9:58.73 and Flyn Fuhrmann fourth with a 9:59.22 clocking.
MCC then placed two, three, four in the 10,000-meters with Andrew McComber second in 34.47.28, Fuhrmann third with a time of 35:01.67 and Stellmach fourth, clocked in 35:15.51.
Marcus Naisant also had a big day to add to the decathlon title he won last week. He captured the javelin with a toss of 187-4 and the long jump by leaping 23-3 ¼.
Noah Lovato upped his qualifying mark in the pole vault to 15-1 while finishing second. He was already No. 6 in the nation before Tuesday.
For the MCC women, Reese Young, who won the pentathlon title last week, captured the javelin with a toss of 119-0, better than the NJCAA standard. However, she already has a 121-1 to her credit.
Maggie Orr improved her NJCAA qualifying mark in the 3000-meter steeplechase to 12:17.75 while finishing third.
The regional finishes Thursday at John D. Riggs Stadium.
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