SAN DIEGO – Racing in America's Finest City for a second consecutive meet to start the season, the Toreros dashed through the heat waves out on the track at the Arnie Robinson Invite on Friday.
The meet at Merrill Douglas Stadium, just 10 minutes from USD's national No. 1 'most beautiful campus', honored U.S. multiple-time Olympic medalist Arnie Robinson and the Toreros followed suit with multiple podium finishes of their own.
"I was glad we raced near home, as it allowed us to manage the heat with the student-athletes easier," said head coach Will Guarino. "The 1500m women faced the hottest time of the day, and they went out aggressively."
Leading the pack for the Toreros in the 1500 was
Clare Boneau, fresh off her freshman record time in the event a week ago. She posted a solid result again at 4:39.85, finishing in second in the event. Three other Toreros finished in the top 10.
Later in the afternoon in the 800m, Toreros landed on the podium again. Junior
Lilly Dow finished third with a personal best, pushed by her teammates who were not far behind in fifth, sixth and eighth.
"It was Lilly's strength in closing that pulled her to a personal best," Guarino said.
In the 4x400m relay, the squad of Dow,
Talya Sepand,
Olivia Gaspar and
Kara Curry finished fourth with a season best 4:03.30, inching closer to the school record mark.
Moving on to the night session in a cooler climate, Toreros racing alone topped the longer distance events with personal bests. First, freshman
Sydney Tackett took the 5K crown with a 17:55.15 final time, nearly a minute faster than the next best.
Then, rounding out the night in the 10K, junior
Rebecca Bronstein took the title with a time of 38:38.97, over two minutes quicker than the second-place finisher.
"We had victories, season bests and personal bests and now we set our sights on the next race at Cal State San Marcos," Guarino said.
Up Next
The Toreros next take to the track on Friday, March 27 at the Mangrum Invite in San Marcos, Calif.
